The Honourable Response
by AspenRust
Summary: The war is over. Life is looking good for Hermione once more. Why then were politicians and journalists destroying Hermione's life? An attempt at a marriage fic with some juicy drama as various remaining former powerful fractions fight for control. Slowburn Dramione.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Two months had passed since the war ended. To Hermione, it felt like the world had ended and she was living in a fake version of reality where she was following the motions of going through life as was everyone around her. Although they had won the war, it was clear that the last year had depleted everyone. Given the wonderful people they had lost, the scars they all bore, the shock of the final battle, it was as if there was a constant dementor presence around them all. She had gone back to the Burrow along with Harry and Ron, immediately after the battle where they grieved Fred and Lupin and Tonk's death. It seemed as if they were going to funerals every other day.

Eventually, Hermione had left for Australia to look for her parents. Sure enough, Harry, and Ron had chosen to accompany her. With the help of the Australian Magical Ministry they had easily located her parents. However, much to her despair, the damage her _Obliviate_ spell had left on their brains required extensive healing by expert healers. So she had had them committed to St Mungo's Psychiatry Healing, Australia where the world's best mind healers worked on restoring her parent's memories. Fortunately, using the trio's extensive influence, they had managed to keep this from the journalists. Although Hermione was distraught at the damage she had caused her parents, was finally looking forward to moving on. After all Healer Exavier had assured her, that the spell was reversible and that her parents should be fine in a few months.

The only real good thing during this time were the new relationships that had either started during the war or because of the war. Harry and Ginny were joined to the hip and were snogging as if they were practicing for the world championship. Neville and Hannah had started dating. Percy had regained companionship with Penelope Clearwater, who Hermione had felt very uncomfortable around when they first met on account of stealing her name during the war. It was a real pity then that the one relationship she truly cared about - her own, didn't appear to be surviving. When Ron had kissed her in the Chamber of Secrets, she had been relieved that it had finally happened and that they were finally together. However if the last 2 months had been any indication of their relationship, that first kiss was the only high point. It wasn't that they didn't love each other. She knew she loved Ron and it was clear that he felt the same way. However either the timing was completely wrong or they only loved each other like siblings. While she and Ron hadn't talked about their relationship yet, Hermione was positive that Ginny knew that their handholding and cheek kisses were for Harry's benefit. Afterall, Harry had been beyond thrilled that they had got together and they certainly did not want to give him any reason to feel sad. Not after the war and everything he had been through.

It was clear on their return from Australia, that there wasn't sufficient room in the Burrow, what with Charlie and Percy being back. So the three of them along with Ginny had moved back into Grimmauld's place. Molly who was understandably uncomfortable with young adults living alone had muttered something that sounded suspiciously like post war population booms and so had managed to persuade Harry to invite Andromeda and Teddy to move in with them. Andromeda, who had recently lost her husband, daughter and son-in-law had been extremely touched by the offer to return to her maternal family house. The first she had remarked on moving in was how much fun she was going to have fighting with this terribly outdated prejudiced house. She was also grateful for the free babysitting that was available. Ginny often called it practice when Harry and her were babysitting to incite Harry into a response. Surprisingly, he never overreacted, unlike Ron who would exclaim that he was too young to be an uncle, nevermind that Bill and Fleur were actively trying for a baby.

Days after they had settled into their new routine, they had a visit from the new minister of magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, with ministry internship offers. Harry and Ron had been quick to take up the Ministry's offer to join Auror training. Hermione on the other hand, was still considering her options. Before she had left for Australia, Professor Mcgonagall had suggested that she return to Hogwarts to complete her NEWT exams with which which she could then apply for any internship or job she wanted. Ginny was very much in favour of her taking up on the Hogwarts offer and her constant encouragement seemed to making her decision for her. The only reason she was considering her ministry offer was because she knew that if she went back to school, there would be no future for Ron and her. They were not like Harry and Ginny and that in itself confused her.

Soon it was Harry's birthday and they were celebrating in Grimmauld Place. Molly had baked a beautiful cake and Hermione, Andromeda and the Weasleys had put up streamers and other decorations. Hermione had bought Harry a book on basic Auror training hoping it would help him in the coming year. As more and more of their friends dropped by for the party, Hermione was struck by how much this felt like another Order of the Phoenix meeting. The only differences was that a number of the most important members were missing but also, for the first time in forever, they were all moderately happy. She found herself grinning at Luna trying to convince Ron that he had Harsgundy Bears in his ears and he needed to stand upside down for 10 mins a day to get rid of them. She caught Harry's eye across the room and saw him desperately trying to hold in a chuckle. It was almost like old times. It was only when they looked closer that the gaps were obvious- the way George stared into space when no one was talking to him or the way Andromeda's eyes would water randomly or the way Molly would stop every few minutes to count all her kids (harry and Hermione included).

Hermione was most conscious of Ron's habit of tapping his feet in nervousness as he was of the way she would check if she had her beady bag with the undetectable extension charm. He was avoiding her and she him. She knew, they needed to talk and soon. She was knew Harry was beginning to suspect and more than anything in the world she knew that she wanted her relationships with Harry and Ron to stay they wait it had always been. Tonight, she determined, after the party, she would talk to Ron and then things could go back to normal.

Harry had been getting so much mail all day, that no one had bothered closing the windows. The Owls kept flying in, dropping mail on Harry and flying out. Pig was getting extremely nervous and excitable. When Pig fluttered irritably for the hundredth time, Ron in annoyance, opened his cage to let him out for a bit. It was at this point, that a generic brown owl flew in to the window frightening Pig even more who nipped Ron's finger in confusion. "Ow, you dumn owl" yelped Ron. "Letter for you" he shouted to Harry across the room. Harry who had been stuck discussing portkey regulations with Percy was more than happy to run to the window. However, the brown owl with the nametag 'Baser' refused to hand him the owl, nipping at his fingers when he tried to reach for the letter. On closer inspection while avoiding the owl's beak, Harry realised that the letter was addressed to Hermione. Wondering if it was news about her parents and hoping for good news, Harry bellowed to Hermione who was upstairs introducing Hannah to Teddy Lupin. By the time Hermione came downstairs, Baser and Pig were playing a not so friendly game of 'this-is-my-water-bowl'. Baser held out his leg for Hermione who promptly took the letter. As Harry was coaxing Pig to let Baser leave, he heard Hermione gasp loudly and when he turned around she looked confused and a little shocked. "What happened" enquired Harry gently. Looking around to ensure no one was listening, Hermione exclaimed "It's the Malfoys! Look it's their seal" as she pointed to the insignia on the sealed envelope.

Just then, Andromeda and Molly entered carrying a giant Harry cake and everyone started singing happy birthday. Quickly dropping the letter into her beaded bag, Hermione whispered to Harry "Later" as they walked to the table where Harry cut a slice off his face-cake. The party was great fun and Hermione knew she would remember it forever. It was close to 1am when everyone had returned home and Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were sitting in Harry and Ron's room talking about the highlights of the party which included Kreacher handing out tiny pink party favours, Teddy falling into the non-alcoholic punch, Neville drunkenly proposing to Hannah after she had fallen asleep. Ginny had just finished imitating Fleur and Luna's conversation about how Veela's were related to Nargles and they were laughing really hard when Harry suddenly remembered the letter. "Hermione, the letter" shouted Harry. "What letter?" asked Ginny, drunkenly placing her head on Harry's shoulder as Harry wrapped his arm around her. Hermione felt a pang of guilt on seeing that because after all wasn't that how Ron and she were supposed to be. Pulling the letter out she announced "This is really weird, why on earth would any of the Malfoys writing to me?". "Aren't they in prison except for Narcissa" asked Ron. "Yes, In detention" murmured Hermione breaking the seal and opening the letter. She started reading the letter aloud:

_Dear Ms Granger, _

_I hope this letter finds you well. _

_I would like to start the letter by apologising for everything that you had to go through at the Manor and for my behaviour in the past. As you know, my son Draco is currenly in detention and will be standing for trial on August 3. I am aware that Mr Potter and you have agreed to be witnesses for him during the trial and I just wanted to thank you for agreeing to do so. _

_Draco is my life and I was very much indebted to you for all the help you are providing in his release and reintegration._

_Thank you once again._

_Sincerely,_

_Narcissa_

When she finished reading, Hermione looked up to find stunned faces. Eventually, drunk Ginny began giggling which resulted in all of them cracking up. In between chortles, Ron gasped "What about thanking Harry? It's even his birthday!". "Actually", Ginny started, swayed and fell back into Harry's arms, "I did see another letter in Harry's presents piles that had the same seal thing". "Let's get it" exclaimed Ron, who excitedly sat up ready to go downstairs to look for the letter. To Hermione's relief, Harry grabbed his wand and said "_Accio_ Narcissa's letter". Sure enough, a letter came whizzing through the air and fell into Harry's hands. Ginny grabbed the letter out of his hands and quickly opened it. Sitting up, she began dramatically narrating the contents:

_Dear Mr Potter, _

_Hope the letter finds you in good health. __Happy birthday! _

_Thank you for agreeing to be Draco's witness. I am very grateful. _

_Sincerely, _

_Narcissa_

Ginny looked around confused. "Where's the bit about being indebted and Draco being her life?". "Maybe she feels that I owe her for saving my life in the forest and thats why I am appearing as a witness whereas Hermione doesn't owe any of them anything" suggested Harry. "Plus all that horror in their stupid house" muttered Ron. Another reason why she and Ron would never work, Hermione thought. He couldn't understand her ordeal. He feared it as he feared her nightmares about it. She wanted to talk about it but it only ever made him feel guilty that he couldn't save her from that. Hermione slowly said, "I don't trust the Malfoys. The extreme gratitude in my letter feels out of place". "I'm sure its nothing" Ron tried reassuring her. However Harry softly said, "It may be best that we are wary either way". Hermione nodded. Ron added "If you need me to be witness instead, I can do it". "It's alright Ron, like the ministry official said, I am sure they will call you if necessary." smiled Hermione softly. A soft snore alerted them to a sleeping Ginny. With a grin, Hermione said "I guess you boys better go to sleep then". Harry kissed Ginny's forehead softly as he lowered her to the bed and tucked her in. Ron and Hermione turned their heads instantly feeling like they were intruding. Catching each others eyes instead, they both blushed and Ron looked at his feet. Hermione realising that the time had come softly whispered, "Ron, we should talk". As Harry slipped out of the room, Ron asked Harry to give them a few minuted and with a resigned look, sat down for the talk he knew had been coming for weeks.

This is my first attempt writing. Please do leave reviews with constructive comments.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The rain had not stopped pouring for the last two days. Hermione lazily got out of bed with a sense of dread and foreboding. The British rain was bound to depress anyone she reasoned to herself. But it was the day of Malfoy's trial and she was nervous. Nervous to recollect and narrate the events that filled her nightmares, nervous to appear in front of a full jury and defend the boy that tormented her for years but mostly nervous to face the journalists and cameras for they always seemed to twist her every word or action for a breaking news article.

"HERMIONE! TIME FOR BREAKFAST" Ginny yelled from the bottom of the staircase. With a small puff, Hermione ironed out the front of her dress with her hands, straightened up, grabbed her wand and headed downstairs, her beaded bag safely hanging on her shoulder.

As Hermione entered the dining room, she was struck by the happy atmosphere : Ginny attempting to feed Teddy by pretending the spoon was a zooming wand, Andromeda laughing at the way Ron was eating, Ron attempting to win the Guinness World Record for stuffing his face with pancakes at an impossible rate (had there been a record for that). She glanced at Harry who was staring at his food sombrely and was hit with that sense of apprehension once more. "Try the pancakes, Hermione" spluttered Ron in between bites. Hermione smiled as she sat next to Ginny.

Atleast things between Ron and her were finally good. He had expected the breakup, although she wondered if it could be called a breakup if they never dated to start with. When they had the talk, he had given her a huge hug and confessed that he was relieved. It had been too much pressure and he was not ready for a serious relationship but he had promised her that he would always love her. Hermione had found herself crying then, as she made the same promises but also felt a great weight had lifted off her. The last 2 days had been fun, reminding her of the days before the war, days she had never thought she could get back.

Teddy reached out for Hermione murmuring in-cohesively. Ginny pulled Teddy away despite his scream of protest. "Don't get Aunt Hermione dirty buddy, she has an important day today" she coo-ed at Teddy who was no longer interested in eating and was trying to cathc the magically charmed spoon that was zooming near him. He caught the food end of the spoon, splattering baby food all over Ginny's jumper. "MERLIN" she yelped and ran for the kitchen with Teddy in her arms. Andromeda who had finished eating by then, rushed over to help leaving Hermione alone with the boys.

"You guys ready for today?" asked Ron softly gulping down pumpkin juice. Hermione helped herself to some maple syrup as Harry answered "Dunno if I can ever be ready for this but I will be happy to be done with it finally".

"Do you reckon they will send him to Askaban?"

Neither of them responded to Ron's question for a bit. Finally, Hermione looked up and said "He deserves to be punished, sure. But more so for his bullying than for his circumstances."

Harry grinned. "If it was upto Hermione, I bet she would make him write 15 inches about The Goblin Revolution of 1772."

"Oh that would be too easy" Hermione grinned back. "I would make him Hagrid's apprentice for a year". Ron bellowed at that as Ginny came back.

"What are you guys talking about" she asked. She had changed her jumper but had clearly missed the giant spot of baby food on her skirt. Hermione decided not to point it out. "Malfoy's punishment if it were up to us" Ron said. Ginny looked as if she was thinking hard. With an evil smile she proclaimed "Well, I would suggest that he be the practise dummy in our Defense classes" as she cast _Tarantallegra_ at an imaginary Draco. As they were all snickering to an imaginary dancing Malfoy, Kreacher announced the arrival of ministry officials.

Quickly gulping down some water, Hermione grabbed her bag and made her way to the living room, the others in tow. "Harald Perkins at your service" proclaimed a small old man with fluffy white hair with a wide smile. "Mr Potter, Ms Granger, Mr Weasley, Ms Weasley", he bowed oddly as he lifted his hat for each of them". "You work for Dad" gasped Ron with zero tact. "

Yes, I used to, Mr Weasley, but now most of us are working to create order in the ministry once more, helping with the trials and capturing stragglers". "Death eaters" he added in case his point wasn't clear enough. "Magda Wyscon was supposed to accompany me, but unfortunately some muggles were attacked late last night near Brownpool Valley and since we don't have sufficient aurors, she had to go to help apprehend the attackers. She should be here anytime to accompany us, perhaps we could wait for a few minutes?" he asked.

"What happened to the muggles?" Hermione asked shocked ignoring his question.

"They were roughed up but no one died. Simple job of obliviating after making sure they are alright ofcourse."

"Who did this" questioned Harry. "Are there a lot of death eaters still on the loose?"

"They are not necessarily death eaters who are creating chaos. Things have changed a lot. The two most powerful wizards of our time are gone" Perkind said alluding to Dumbledore and Voldermort, "and everyone who is anything is trying to fill that void".

Seeing their confused faces, he waved his arms, "I don't mean to bore you with this."

"No, go on"

"Don't stop"

"I understand, please continue"

"Its not boring"

Four voices sounded at the same time. Hermione realised that they had all be so absorbed in trying to get their lives back to normal that they had stopped paying attention to what was going on in the outside world. Reading false news about their lives everyday had made them stop reading the newspapers. Even Hermione who was usually interested in knowing what the media were reporting, had started ignoring the newspaper, after the Daily Prophet released an expose about how Hermione was a direct descendent of Rowena Ravenclaw and that she wasn't really Muggleborn.

"Muggles have better technology, they are more in number and they have always threatened our existence" Perkins said. "You must have read all about the witch trials and revolutions. But we have always depended on them. Whether it is for production, technology or labour. For instance, he pointed to the chairs in the living room, these are muggle made. They must be, because no wizard or witch has ever made a chair from scratch for sale. Most products even in this house has a muggle beginning which means a lot of wizard businesses depend on muggles. With the weakened state of the ministry and existing pro-muggle sentiments, there is great fear that more muggles will become aware of our existence which is causing even ordinary people to act suspicious and offensive to muggles."

The room went quiet. Hermione had never heard such a ridiculous thing before. She knew most wizards and witches were prejudiced. Even the Weasleys appeared to be terrified when they were in Muggle London, but to respond in such a manner? Now, she wished she hadn't thrown that ridiculous article about her being Rowena Ravenclaw's descendent away. Perhaps that had also been propaganda. Propaganda to counter previous articles about the most powerful witch - Hermione Granger, a muggleborn.

"What - " started Harry when Madga Wyscon entered via floo. A tall skinny witch with bright red hair, she tripped over the carpet and exclaimed "Hello all. I am so sorry for my delay. We are terribly late and its all my fault. Let's go!" She appeared to be covered in feathers and as she came closer the smell of chickens and eggs surrounded them. She could hear Ginny gagging behind her in response to the stench. "I am sorry for the smell, the muggles were chicken farmers" Magda explained to Perkins. She then handed out floo powder to all of them "The connection to the ministry has been opened. Just call for 'The Ministry Foyer' she added.

Perkins smiled apologetically at them, grabbed some floo powder, walked over to the fireplaces, shouted "The Ministry Foyer" and disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. With a kiss to Ginny and a wave to Ron, Harry went next. Magda turned to Hermione and beckoned her to go next. Rubbing her palms together, Hermione prayed that her nervousness would quiet down. She smiled at Ron and Ginny who were telling her encouraging words, took the floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. As she said her destination and threw down the floo powder, she found herself enclosed in green smoke and when she opened her eyes, she felt the camera flashes go off. She was surrounded by several journalists and photographers shouting out to her.

"How do you feel being back here Ms Granger"

"Are you really here as a witness for Mr Malfoy"

"I heard you were tortured in the Malfoy Manor"

"Is it true that Mr Malfoy and you were secret lovers?"

"Are you related to the Ravenclaw family Ms Granger?"

"Did you go back in time and play with dinosaurs? she heard another voice. "What?" Hermione spun to her side to see a grinning Harry. "Well I think my question is as valid as any other" he added. Smiling, they posed for a few pictures together before Magda who had emerged from another fireplace nearby shooed the journalists away and apologising led them to the front desk.

With new shiny name tags that had their name and designation "Witness for Mr Malfoy" they were led away towards the elevators. "Never thought I would wear a badge with Malfoy on it. I bet he would never wear one with my name on it" whispered Harry. Hermione was reminded of the time Malfoy wore "potter stinks" badges but refrained from commenting. There was a time and place for everything and right now, she couldn't wait to get the trial over with.

There was no one else in the elevator but them. Perkins chose the courtroom button and the lift lurched left, right and then shot down ridiculously fast. It stopped suddenly and Percy Weasley walked in. "Hello Harry, Hermione" he muttered, managing a smile. "Glad to catch you here. I was coming down to the courtroom to find you both." He managed a quick nod to the ministry officials before adding "Dad is very sorry that he couldn't make it but he just had to take the new job at the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He should be back from France in a week. Anyway, here you go" he said handing them two folders. These are the charges against Malfoy. The yellow highlights are the charges that you will be witnesses for, Harry, the green yours, Hermione. His lawyer is excellent - he has won several impossible cases and is the reason that Lucius Malfoy never went to prison in the First Wizarding War." When is his trial" Harry asked "Lucius I mean". "Next month I think" said Percy "they are negotiating with all the full fledged death eaters at the moment to find all their secrets, find stragglers and prevent revolutions. Draco is the first intriguing case in front of the Wizengamot. All the previous ones were directly sent for the Kiss or to Azkaban for a life sentence. This trial has all the media attention and is definitely a turning point for political allegiances" he noted.

Hermione who had been perusing the folder made a quick mental note to talk to Percy about this later. Just as suddenly as it had started, the lift lurched forward and came to a stop. "Welcome to the Wizengamot" exclaimed Perkins. They exited the elevator to a corridor jam packed with wizards in witches in plum coloured robes who turned to stare at them as they walked passed. As they moved towards the main doors, Harry noted that he had never been to this particular court room before. On reaching the impressively large wooden doors, Perkins opened them with a spell and Harry and Hermione were once again enveloped in white flashes as cameras clicked. The room was impressively large. It was full of people, the Wizengamot members, media journalists, photographers, the public. Hermione even saw Xenophilius Lovegood in the corner. There were so many people that she could have imagined for a second that they were all there for a Quidditch match.

Suddenly, they heard a whimsical voice go "Hi there Hermione, Harry!" Luna appeared out of thin air. She was wearing her own "Witness for Malfoy" name tag and was a carrying a similar folder. "The witnesses have to sit there" she pointed. Giving Perkins a quick look to make sure it was okay, they followed Luna to the stands. "How are you Luna?" asked Harry conversationally. "Its very depressing here" she replied "The air is full of panicking parpletts. They are affecting the temperature". Sure enough, the room was freezing. "Also Malfoy looks very sad" she added.

"When did you see Malfoy" asked Harry.

"Oh there he is" said Luna as she pointed at a metal cage right in front of the Wizengamot that somehow they had all missed.

Maybe it was the fact that he was sitting down, or perhaps it was because of the fact that he was tied to his chair or perhaps it was the fact that he looked like he hadn't showered ever. His robes that may have once been a light shade of brown, now looked like he had spent days rolling in the mud pit. His dirty blonde hair covered his face and he looked like he had had his spirit destroyed. Hermione heard Harry gasp softly next to her. But try as she might, she couldn't relate this broken wizard to the boy she knew. Draco Malfoy, it appeared may have already been punished enough.

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Please do leave reviews. Things are starting to pick up now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Malfoy recited The Babbitty Rabbitty poem that he had made up when he was five years old as a summer assignment from his governess. It was only 12 lines long and he repeated them over and over again. He had his eyes shut and used his fingers to help him keep count. He had stopped only once that day and that too because of the mandatory lunch time routine. It was just a charade- detainees, a softer word for prisoners, would line up outside their rooms/cells to receive their meals which they then had to finish within 5 minutes when they were forced back into their rooms. Maybe it was a show of power, maybe it was a way of keeping count but given that none of them had wands and that they were constantly surrounded by entire taskforces of magical law enforcement officers, it was most definitely a way to break the spirits of the prisoners.

He was currently reciting the poem for the 1527th time, on his 75th day in the detainee camp. The aurors came every evening to have a chat about his situation which sounds pleasant except the 'aurors' were really professional torturers, 'chat' referred to the enhanced interrogation/torture techniques and 'situation' predominantly meant his role as a death eater. Never mind, that he never wanted to become one, never wanted to kill anyone and most certainly was rooting for his arch enemy Harry Potter to win.

When the Battle of Hogwarts, there had been a small window of time, when he sat in a corner of the Great Hall in a complete daze with his parents. Maybe it was the fact that he had thrown Potter his wand, maybe it was the fact that no one seemed to pay him any attention, maybe it was all that death surrounding them, but he had felt, no, hoped, that this was a turning point. He had thought that perhaps everything would go back to normal. But that was a young, naive, foolish thought. The aurors had come for his father first, then him and he still didn't understand why they hadn't run. But he was so tired. So tired of running and letting others dictate his life. He wondered where his mother was. He had seen his father at the far end of the prison during lunch time but his mother... He missed her so much.

And the aurors, they had promised all the detainees a fair trial. They had said that the waiting time would be an opportunity to share any information that would help catch the bad guys. Never mind, that for them, he, was the bad guy. In the first few weeks, he had willingly offered up information, although judging by their expressions, it was information they already knew. They then demanded more information, they didn't care that he didn't have anything more to offer, they didn't care that he was 17 or that he had been in Hogwarts, a glorified bully and a death eater more so in name than reputation. They began breaking in and violating his mind. They didn't like the fact that he was a good occlumens. It was proof that he was hiding secrets they claimed.

It was vile and despicable but that had been day 27 and since then, he had taken to protect his mind more vigorously. Anything that would help him focus and put up barriers against the mental attacks. Now, on day 75, he knew that the best Legilimens that came up against him could't crack the barrier. Afterall, he had had the best training from Snape. And he had practised, oh ever so hard especially whenever he had been expected to meet the Dark Lord. He knew his trial was coming up soon. The dumb looking lanky Auror -Henriett or something, had said as much.

"And so we love Babbitty Rabbitty and her cackling stump for saving us all from the bad men." That was the last line of Draco's 2000th repetition. As if to reward him, the cell door opened and he was beckoned outside. As he walked towards the interrogation chambers, he began noticing small differences to the usual routine, for starters there were 3 aurors accompanying him instead of the usual two. Instead of leading him to the usual room, they led him to a larger set of doors which opened to a garden. Malfoy, steeled himself. Change was dangerous, change could confuse a person and leave them vulnerable to defend themselves.

"Draco!" he heard a voice call out to him. A voice he hadn't heard in 75 days. His mother.

Malfoy shook his head gently. This had to be a trick.

"Draco, my dear boy" Narcissa got up from a bench in the park, walked up to him rapidly and wrapped her arms around him. "Draco" she whispered, tears running down her face onto his shirt.

He could smell Lavender and Lilac. He reached out and toucher her face. She broke into a smile he hadn't seen in a long time.

"It's okay" she reassure him. "It's going to be okay.

The lanky Auror came over to break them up and bid them to sit on a stone table in the middle of the park. He was joined by his black haired partner, Auror Rubbards and someone else he didn't know.

"I am Head Councillor Farringer, this is Auror Henriett and Auror Rubbards", the new wizard introduced in a grating high-pitched voice. "Your trial will start in less than two weeks and depending on whether you cooperate or not, it could last anywhere between a few days to a few months" he screeched bluntly. "Your punishment could be as simple as paying 10000 galleons if you agree to our terms to spending the rest of your life in Azkaban. Your call ofcourse" he added with a cruel smile."

10000 galleons was nothing to the Malfoys, there had to be a catch, figured Malfoy.

"Oh tosh, tell us the terms and don't leave out the details" Narcissa demanded without looking phased in the least. She turned to Draco and gave him a soft smile while squeezing his hand in hers.

"Mother." Draco breathed. It was really her.

* * *

He was woken at a very early hour and dragged to the fireplace. Surrounded by over 10 aurors, he wondered what they thought he would do? Enter the floo and shout out 'Malfoy Manor'? They magically bound him to two of the aurors who then flooed into the ministry. They led him to the elevators and Malfoy realised that they must have chosen the early hour so that no ministry official or journalist would see him. They dragged him to the court room where Henriett made a crude joke about hippogriffs and cages. That was when he saw the ugly looking metal cage in the front of the courtroom.

It was all part of the plan, he realised. A plan that involved his complete and utter degradation and embarrassment. Malfoy realised then with a surprise, that he didn't care. He walked to the cage leisurely and sat himself on the chair. As Harriett and Rubbards placed magical enchantments and spells as they wound him to the chair, Malfoy's only regret was that he had left the last bread roll uneaten the previous night.

With a final clang, the cage was shut and the aurors left to their guard positions. Malfoy gently shut his eyes. The trial was to start at 10 and it was barely 6 by his estimate. He was bloody well going to take a nap when he could.

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Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews. They motivate me to write better. Sorry for all the typos. I will try to be more careful from here on. The next chapter will be the trial!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"What do we have here?" intoned a harsh voice in a quiet tone.

Malfoy was seated on one side of the long dining table at the recreational room in the Lestrange estate. He could see his father to his right. The Dark Lord stood next to the empty chair at the head of the table, the wand in his hand pointing slightly towards the ceiling. His psychotic aunt Bellatrix sat in the chair next to the Dark Lord's chair, laughing at a joke no one had cracked. Her voice echoing maniacally in the large acoustic room. Her husband, Rodolphus who sat opposite her, on the other side of the Dark Lord was out of Malfoy's sight but he could imagine him quivering uncontrollably as he muttered "My Looorrd, I am so sorry, I had no idea that he was not to be trusted."

A voice spoke up at the other side of the table. "We all knew, my Lord. I warned him. Malfoy was the fool who vouched for this traitor" Crabbe Senior tattled, pointing his long crooked index finger at Lucius Malfoy. Draco, became very aware that every head at the dining table turned to look at his father. Parkinson, Avery, Goyle, Mulciber, Greyback, Yaxley, Dolohov and Snape - every single one of them stared at his father, some of their faces in open disdain, others inscrutable. Before Lucius could open his mouth to offer an explanation, there was a loud sound.

**Thud.**

The body of a magically bound and gagged wizard fell on the table. Malfoy realised with horror that he had forgotten all about the wizard who had been hanging suspended above them during this meeting. To his complete disgust, he realised that he recognised the tortured wizard in front of him.

Everyone turned back to gape at the Dark Lord. He definitely had a flare for dramatics and this was his way of taking back control of the room.

"I'm sure you have a perfectly valid explanation for this Lucius. In fact I have already heard it" he announced dryly to the room. "But it was still a mistake and it is time for your punishment."

He paused, rolling his wand in his palms. Turning to Rodolphus, he added "But I am afraid, you, Rudulphus should have been more wary, checked his loyalties." he drawled, emphasising on the word _loyalties._ "Since when did you start listening to Lucius anyway" he guffawed crookedly. Bellatrix's resumed her loud maniacal laugh and Draco felt sick to his stomach. The bound wizard in front of him twisted and flailed and his eyes fell on Draco, begging and pleading for help.

"What do you think?" the Dark Lord asked Bellatrix, the only death eater who was nearly as twisted as him. "Do you want to administer the _cruciatus_ curse on your dear husband while Draco can kindly do the same for his father?" he continued without sparing either of the Malfoys a glance.

Bellatrix's laughter amplified and she began making gleeful noises. Draco felt a deep sense of sorrow and helplessness in anticipation of her verbal affirmative response when a clear voice cut the wild atmosphere in the room like a sharp knife cuts butter.

"My Lord, the issue remains that the traitor lies bound in front of us. Isn't it more relevant that we find out what he has done."

Draco had never felt more relieved that his Potion's professor and Godfather was at the table that night. While he did find Snape bothersome, he was aware that Snape during several occasions had inadvertently helped Draco out of many a tough spot. He was even more grateful that Snape was back in the Dark Lord's good books because despite Bellatrix's protests, Voldermort lifted his wand, pointed straight at the pureblood traitor bound in the middle of the table and shouted _"CRUCIO"_.

"Show your loyalties and join me" growled Voldermort, addressing the room before resuming the torturing of the prisoner.

Knowing there was no other choice, Draco raised his wand willing his hand to stop shaking and pointed it straight at Macmillan Selwyn before whispering _"Crucio"_.

_Bang_

_Bang_

_Bang_

Malfoy was confused. The _Cruciatus_ spell didn't make that noise.

Malfoy twisted helplessly.

_Bang_

_Bang_

_Bang_

_"May the court come to order!" _

Malfoy opened his eyes to a flood of light. He was at the Wizengamot. The room was full of journalists, the general public, witnesses, the Wizengamot members. As his eyes got used to the light, he looked around the room more carefully, trying to see past the metal bars. He was surprised when he realised that he actually recognised several people - some Ministry officials, his aurors - Henriett and Rubbards, the awful Head Councillor Farringer, his family lawyer Fawley, and best of all -his mother sitting in the witness stands. But sitting next to her was also another familiar face - Harry Potter? And Granger?

He almost snorted at the thought of the Golden Trio swearing in on the stands, speaking up for him. He could almost hear Potter saying "_I am better at him in quidditch so we can forgive him"_ and Granger going "_I am a genius and a swot and Malfoy's terrible but not bad enough to give him the kiss". _That - was - ridiculous. There was nothing nice they could say about him. _So maybe they were witnesses against him_, the thought came to him suddenly, turning his dark mood more sour. _Control. _

Putting them out of his mind, he turned back to the front and observed the court members, all looking ridiculous in their bright plum robes. His stomach grumbled in protest when he saw one witch eating a croissant and drinking coffee. When his stomach refused to cooperate, he shut his eyes and began to recite one of his favorite nursery rhymes.

_Control. _He reminded himself taking slow, deep breaths.

He was reciting the rhyme over and over again when unexpectedly he felt like he was being watched, He could feel a pair of eyes burning straight through him. He opened his eyes sharply, to stare back at the unashamed lecher only to find himself looking at the man in the seat next to the Chief Warlock, a man in plum robes, a man who had once stared up at him in fear and despair. He was staring back into the eyes of Macmillan Selwyn.

* * *

Author's note: This is by far the shortest chapter but I hope you like it. I know i said I will start the trial but I really wanted to work a bit more on the dynamics of the different characters.

Please review: What did Selwyn do that characterised him as a traitor to Voldermort? What is he going to do to Malfoy now? What deal did Head Councillor Farringer offer Malfoy in the previous chapter?

The next chapter will explore some interaction between Narcissa and Hermione and the trial definitely starts.

This is definitely a very slowburn Dramione. All the fluff will come in later! Also how many of you thought that the pair of eyes staring at Malfoy was Hermione? :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Harry twitched uncomfortably in his seat. He had done a great many impossible things in his life. He had survived the killing curse twice, he had broken in and out the impenetrable Gringotts bank, he had even survived 11 years with the Dursleys, which Harry personally thought should be on the top of his Chocolate card achievements. But sitting between a polite Mrs Malfoy and a curious Hermione who were engaging in the strangest conversation which ricocheted between small talk and the workings of the Wizengamot was driving Harry a little insane. He leaned his upper body back as much as the chair allowed him and continued to bob his head and make affirmative noises at the right places hoping that neither witch had noticed that he had tuned them out a long time ago.

"So..., the members of the Wizengamot have complete authority over which cases they try and which they don't?"

"Yes, but they are compelled to listen to any witnesses who are willing to speak. That is precisely why I was never detained. When Mr Potter kindly stood in as my witness and spoke in support of my release, the Chief Warlock having listened to the witness accounts, sanctioned my release papers."

Hermione looked unconvinced.

"But then why didn't they do the same for Draco?"

Harry who had started paying attention to the conversation again when Mrs Malfoy mentioned his name, spun around and stared at Hermione, confused by the question and a little shocked that Hermione had not only used Malfoy's given name but had also asked Mrs Malfoy such an awkward question.

"I'm sorry Mrs Malfoy, I didn't mean to intrude" Hermione whispered, realising that perhaps she was being a little too presumptuous.

"No no, not a problem. Also, please call me Narcissa."

Narcissa sat up straighter, her elegant posture in direct contrast to her location and unfortunate position. Staring down at her lap, she gently unclasped her hands as if debating something. Then she looked up and smiled at Hermione. Strangely enough instead of appearing annoyed, she had a look of surprise mixed with a bit of curiosity written on her face.

"As you may have noticed from his folder" she tilted her head meaningfully at the folder on Hermione's lap, "Draco, has been accused of a lot more serious crimes. I am really grateful that atleast he gets a trial and has had such wonderful witnesses speaking for him."

Harry nodded awkwardly, although he couldn't help think that the dark mark probably had an important role to play in Malfoy's situation.

Hermione on the other hand, was focusing on the second half of Narcissa's statement. "_Wonderful witnesses! Witnesses in plural. Who else was appearing as a witness for him" _she wondered.

Almost on cue, a soft floaty voice appeared.

"Hello Hermione. Hi Harry." Luna paddled over and sat down next to Hermione.

Nice to see you too Mrs Malfoy. You look much nicer than you did when I saw you at your dungeon." she added seemingly not noticing Hermione and Harry's panicked expressions of her statements.

"Lovely to see you too Luna. Thanks for being here" Narcissa responded without skipping a beat.

* * *

Hermione perused the folder in her lap. Malfoy had been accused of 33 different crimes. The first one was his attempted murder of Professor Dumbledore and Harry had already stood up to the jury as they cross questioned him on his evidence of the evening. While his testimony should have immediately absolved him of the crime, they were still debating it amongst themselves. It appeared almost as if they were stalling for time, hoping that they would find something unsavoury by accident.

The folder contained a number of allegations of him using the Unforgivable _crucio_ curse mostly as punishment against the Hogwarts younger students but surprisingly Luna and a first year called Michael Bovett, a Hufflepuff were both here to speak on his defense. Luna explained how it was common knowledge that Malfoy was terrible at casting the unforgivable curse and it was mutual convenience to both the students and him that they never discuss how his punishments were more of an acting practise. Hermione who had always known Malfoy to be an excellent wandsman was a little surprised at hearing this. And sure enough Harry confirmed her suspicions by adding "He's always been all bark no bite. You really have to mean it, to cast the curse."

The last few allegations in the folder were rudimentary. Breaking into Borgins and Burke, stealing potion ingredients from an apothecary in London. Hermione found herself reliving the several months she had been on the hunt for Horcruxes. Between the three of them, Harry, Ron and herself, they had committed several such misdemeanours, although she was loath to admit it.

Hermione gently shivered. It was nerves, she realised. The second allegation against Malfoy was his role during the events in the Manor on the night that she was tortured. He was being held accountable for his role in aiding Bellatrix in her torture of Hermione. While personally, Hermione thought that he should be held accountable for his inaction, she was there to give evidence that he didn't willingly participate and that he didn't actively aid his aunt during that period. Before Hermione had handed her memories to the ministry, Harry had viewed them in the pensieve that they found in Grimmauld Place. When he came out of the memory, he had given her the longer hug and apologised for not sufficiently supporting her in the aftermath. Hermione didn't blame him at all. He had been distraught over Dobby and she had been too! Harry had then assured her that anyone who saw the memory would testify that Malfoy looked closer to passing out that he did to torturing her. Further, he had put up no resistance when they retrieved their wands. It should be more than sufficient evidence to exonerate him, but Hermione realised that she was more nervous because she would have to relive that memory if they cross questioned her.

The strange thing about the trial so far was that they hadn't let Malfoy speak for himself so far. He had remained tied up in the cage, passively watching the proceedings of the court. When she had brought that up, Luna who was sitting on the other side of her shrugged and said "They probably already have his evidence".

"The court will reconvene in 30 minutes after a lunch break." ruled the Chief Warlock.

As the entire courtroom began to empty and a general buzz of people's conversations began to fill the room, Hermione noticed the Chief Warlock, also known to most as the Minister of Magic and more fondly to Harry and Hermione as Kingsley lean down and talk to a pudgy old man with unnaturally thin lips. She had noticed that while this man had not openly participated in the trial, he was clearly leading the investigation with his opinions as everyone appeared to revere him almost as much as they did Kingsley.

"Who is that? she asked Harry.

"Oh that's Selwyn" replied Perkins, who had come to the witness stands to take them for lunch. "A special ministry lunch is being served right outside for the witnesses" he added.

"Mr Perkins, is there any way I can talk to my son?" Narcissa interjected.

"I think you better ask Magda, Mrs Malfoy" replied Perkins pointing to the witch standing at her post as Ministry security near the jury.

Narsissa excused herself from the group and walked down towards the front of the courtroom. Hermione who had been following Narcissa's progress, felt a tingle go up her spine. She looked to the side and was startled to see both Kingsley and Selwyn looking straight up at her. She closed her eyes tightly, opened them and looked again. The two officials were talking animatedly to Narcissa."I thought I..." she started.

"Hermione c'mon" Harry pulled at Hermione's arm. "I'm hungry" he grumbled.

Hermione must have imagined it. As they walked towards the exit, she quickly spared a glance towards the cage which housed Draco. Two aurors appeared to be opening the cage. They must be taking him out for lunch. She watched as the cast various spells at Malfoy, presumable to free him. Suddenly Hermione realised that Malfoy would be stepping out. She was filled with a sudden panic. She didn't want to see him, not in his current state. It felt uncomfortable like when you trespass on someone sleeping or walk in on someone taking a shower. It felt personal. She also realised that she didn't want Malfoy to see her.

Having decided that they should leave before he steps out of the cage, Hermione turned around and taking Harry's hand, speed-walked towards the door.

"Hermione! Whoa!" yelped Harry.

"I am hungry too, so let's go" she rambled, following Perkins out of the door and dragging poor Harry along.

* * *

As they piled their plates with food, Perkins explained a bit more about Selwyn. "He's a big deal around here. He was kinda like a double agent. Made a lot of death eaters think he was on their side but fed Kingsley a lot of information about their doings. He has a whole lot of dirt on the bunch of them and he is definitely going to make them pay."

Perkins seemed happier and a lot more chatty after digging into his fish and chips. He was also drinking a glass of alcoholic butterbeer, the adult kind and Hermione wondered if that was even allowed. Perkins volunteered a lot more information about the jury. Apparently, there was still a Wizard's Council within the Ministry that made important decisions regarding policy and law in an effort to maintain the economy and they were intervening with the court process quite a bit.

"Farringer leads the council. The auburn haired fellow with the glasses who kept telling the lawyers to speak faster."

Harry sniggered. "That was hilarious! What was his problem?" he asked.

"He leads the council ain't he. He wants to end the trial today, parade the boy's punsh...punshment as evidence that, that all is right with the world."

Hermione frowned. Perkins was definitely drunk. He was starting to stutter and slur his words. While she was tempted to stop him from drinking, she figured she was curious to know more about this council.

"Isn't that illegal?" she asked Perkins.

_"Hahahahhaa...cough cough"_ Perkins whose butterbeer had ended up in his nose tried to get his breathing back in control. He wheezed loudly and apologised "Sorry y'all. I shouldn't have had dis drink". Harry and Luna were in tears. Michael had disappeared behind his mother a long time ago and they were the only ones in the room. Hermione frowned disapprovingly.

"Ms Granger," Perkins straightened up as he cleaned up the mess he had made with his wand and tried to look presentable. "Why do you think Lucius got away after the first war? The Malfoys own so many companies that if anything were to happen to them, the economy would collapse."

"Why can't the government just seize their companies and sell them to government or private individuals" she countered.

"Because no one can afford them. It's sad but it is still a fact that the richest families in England are all probably pureblood elitists and deatheaters."

"That's not true" Luna countered.

"I didn't mean you any disrespect Ms Lovegood" hurried Perkins wide-eyed, afraid that he had hurt her feelings by not considering her family.

"No disrespect, I meant the fact that the Flint family could probably buy the Malfoys out and while they are not very nice, I wouldn't call them deatheaters."

Perkins looked almost impressed that Luna knew this but that was before Luna added "I know that because father wrote an article about the number of earwigs the Flint family planted in the Malfoy potions warehouses in a bid to fight the growth in the nargles population."

"I don't know about the nargles" he replied, giving Harry a look that suggested exactly what he thought of her idea "but blimey I completely forgot about the Flints. Luna is absolutely right. They also own a lot of stuff but I still don't think anyone could afford to buy out the Malfoys"

A loud bell rang, making Hermione almost jump out of her seat. "That's the sign. It's time to reconvene I'm afraid" added Perkins.

"Ugh, I hope it ends soon" grumbled Harry. "I miss Ginny".

Hermione rolled her eyes and lightly pinched his hand. "Hey lovebird, the longest Wizengamot trial lasted 3 years and 1 month" Hermione teased, raising an eyebrow at Harry.

"Noooo, you're making this up aren't you? You're winding me up. That has to be it. Hermione tell me the truth. You don't think will take 3 years do you?" Harry's voice had progressively gotten louder and more whiny with every question.

Hermione was doing a bad job of keeping her laughter in. "You're right! I was lying" she said inbetween chortles of laughter.

Harry sighed with relief and tried to pinch her hand in response. "What are you, five?" she giggled. "I lied! The longest trial lasted 3 years, 1 month and 12 days." she continued bursting into fresh peals of laughter at the sight of Harry's long face. The longest trial was actually closer to 3 months and 12 days but sometimes it was worthwhile to make facts up and behave like a silly teenager.

* * *

While lunch break had definitely livened up their moods, entering the courtroom felt sombre. Hermione almost likened the feeling to one that students have when they are entering the exam room ahead of a tricky OWLS exam. Narcissa was already seated in the witness stands and Hermione felt like something had changed, although she couldn't instantly put her finger on it. As she walked to her seat, she had the same feeling that she was being watched. This time instead of Harry, she sat next to Narcissa and was a little surprised to find that Narcissa did not even acknowledge her. Narcissa's face looked pale and white. Remembering that Narcissa had probably met with Draco, Hermione leaned forward trying to see if Malfoy had returned to his cage.

Surprisingly, he wasn't seated there. _"Perhaps, he was just a slow eater but what if something had happened"_ Hermione wondered, feeling a little discomfort at the thought.

Kingsley waved his wand thrice and each time, the same loud bell rang out accompanying his wand movements.

"The court has now reconvened in the case of Malfoy vs the People. During the lunch break, the jury met with Mr Malfoy to hear his full testimony. That testimony, in addition to all the witness testimony will be made available to public access in due time."

He took a deep breath. The journalists were scribbling away, flashes went off as photographers continued to click. Time seemed to slow down. Something had changed. Hermione wasn't sure what but she didn't like how nervous Kingsley seemed to look. And then suddenly, she could have sworn that Kingsley had quickly looked up at her. She blinked in confusion.

"The Wizengamot will no longer try Mr Malfoy on any of the other 32 allegations considers him not guilty in each of them." The entire courtroom erupted in shouts and loud shrieks. Kingsley waved his wand once more. This time in addition to the loud annoying bells, he had also added a _sonorous' _spell to his voice.

"For case 1, regarding Mr Malfoy's alleged attempt to murder Albus Dumbledore, Mr Malfoy has accepted a plea deal which sees him pay the Ministry a sum of 10000 galleons.." he continued drowning out the complaints from the crowd.

"Thats nothing" mumbled Harry looking almost as confused as every other person in the courtroom. Hermione noticed Mrs Malfoy clutching her hands tightly, sitting deadly still and continuing to not acknowledge her.

"In addition to the monetary fine, Mr Malfoy who now has full ownership of Malfoy Industries will work closely with the Ministry to ensure the prevention of an economic recession by providing access of the Ministry into the operations of the company. In addition, any profits made by the company for the next 20 years will be used for rebuilding of the economy."

"What does this mean" whispered Harry leaning over her shoulder.

"It means the Ministry is going to interfere with the runnings of the Malfoy industries" Hermione whispered back. The courtroom was in complete uproar but the jury appeared to not pay any attention.

"Is that good?" checked Harry.

"Not sure." Hermione quickly mumbled back. She didn't really understand the motivation of the ministry. The ministry was very clearly taking advantage of Malfoy and while that may be good if the company was corrupt, it just wasn't right if they were just using Malfoy for their own means. Hermione turned to look at Narcissa. She was so still and white that she reminded Hermione of a ghost. Hermione had no idea what she must be feeling but this meant Malfoy was free right? Why then did Narcissa look so terrified.

"Finally, to make sure that Mr Malfoy truly has learnt his lesson and will no longer engage with extremist groups or show prejudice of any form, we have invoked the '_Poena Magus' _clause.

And just like that, there was compete silence. Kingsley looked a mirror image of Mrs Malfoy. Deathly still. Selwyn on the other hand looked almost triumphant. Harry turned to look at her, but Hermione just shook her head at him. She had no idea what that was and why everyone looked so shocked.

"What kind?" came a sharp voice from within the journalists. Hermione recognised Rita Skeeter by her weird glasses and long nails from the distance.

This time Kingsley didn't speak. A loud and elated voice replied "_Poena Magus Matrimonium". _

"Did he just say Matrimonium, like marriage? Thats insane right" Harry gaped openly at the courtroom.

Before Hermione could reply, she suddenly felt someone grab her hands. "I'm so sorry my dear" whispered Narcissa before embracing her infront of the hundreds of white camera flashes. She then stood up tall, looked straight at the jury as if to show that she was not intimidated and then smartly marched off the witness stand, nodding to Harry, Luna and Michael on the way out.

Hermione vaguely heard someone say that court was adjourned but she was rooted in her seat. Confused and completely lost about the questionable turn of events, she found herself in the unusual territory of uncertainty. She felt like speeding upto the Hogwarts library and researching this '_Poena Magus' _clause. What did Narcissa mean? Where was Malfoy? And why did Kingsley and Selwyn keep staring at her. Now atleast that mystery was solved. She knew that she hadn't been imagining this. They were openly staring at her now. Not at Harry, not at the witness stand but at her. Hermione stared back in irritation. She did not like not knowing and she was going to find out what all this meant.

* * *

Author's note: I don't really know much about how a court works and have taken lots of liberties since no one really knows how the Wizengamot works. Hope you like this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

"Have some cake dear" said Mrs Weasley as she served Hermione a large piece of delicious looking carrot cake. Ron was already devouring his piece but Hermione found that she had lost her appetite.

"Thank you Mrs Weasley, but I would prefer to wait for Harry to come back."

Ron's eyes widened as he looked at Hermione guiltily although he didn't stop eating. Ginny squeezed Hermione's shoulder in support as she poured out tea for everyone "Eat Hermione, I don't really know what's going on but we should be ready for anything when Harry comes back".

Hermione realised the wisdom in Ginny's words. She had been so naive to think that they were all safe. That their lives would return to normal since the war had ended. But now in the course of less than 12 hours, she was beginning to question everything. The minute the trial had ended and Narcissa had left the courtroom having caused a pandemoniac commotion by hugging Hermione, everything had gone to hell. The media in a moment of panic, unable to gain access to the jurors or Draco Malfoy, had come straight at them. Perkins had attempted to escort Harry, Hermione, Luna and Michael to the fireplace to access the floo but had only managed to make it outside the doors of the courtroom before a Witch Weekly journalist had grabbed hold of Hermione's arm. It was his own fault but Hermione couldn't help feel guilty for the three _stupefy_ spells that hit the wizard on his chest. He should have known better than attack Hermione in front of two DA members. Perkins had stayed back to take care of the journalist while Luna offered to help Michael look for his mother and so Harry and Hermione had manoeuvred through the incredibly large throng of people who in the hazy aftermath of the confused finale of the trial were dawdling and babbling in the corridor making Harry and Hermione easy targets for the journalists they were attempting to avoid.

Luckily enough, they had almost immediately run into Percy who appeared out of nowhere and hastily snuck them into an empty broom closet. "Take this" he had whispered, shoving a single dirty paperclip into Hermione's hands. "That was no promotion they gave Dad. They wanted him away during this time" he added bitterly. "This will take you to The Burrow, Hermione but I'm afraid the Minister wants to see you Harry. He'll explain everything" he said in way of an explanation and before Hermione could question him further, she felt an uneasy nauseous sensation at the pit of her stomach and found herself sprawled across the front lawns of The Burrow. An unexpected portkey almost never went hand in hand with a dignified entrance.

Ron and Ginny had been helping Molly with de-gnoming the garden when Hermione had materialised seemingly out of nowhere. They had run over to make sure she was okay before they started laughing at her unusual entrance. Although when she had just finished explaining everything that had happened at the trial, they had sobered up pretty fast. And now this scene at the Weasley kitchen table was highly reminiscent of the war times - Molly staring at the Weasley clock, her face scrunched in worry, Ron stuffing himself with food to avoid thinking about anything and Ginny acting mature and serious, repressing her true carefree spirit. Hermione felt a chill pass down her spine. This was not how it was supposed to be.

Hermione stared at the tea and cake on the table. She picked up the cup and saucer gingerly and took a sip of her warm Assam tea. Ginny was right though. It wasn't time to wallow in pity, it was time to arm herself for any situation that came their way. But it was only as she took a careful bite of the carrot cake that she realised that Ron was right too. The food helped and although she had just had lunch, the sugar made her feel better. She felt ready now, ready to learn more.

"Mrs Weasley, what do you know about "_Poena Magnus Matrimonium?" _she asked, alert and curious.

* * *

Harry had never spent much time with Percy Weasley. Harry had initially thought of him as The Head Boy, then as Ron's surly brother they all teased. More recently he had been the wanker that made Mrs Weasley cry but since the battle, he knew that Percy had changed, that he felt terrible for everything he had done and that he was constantly repentant. He was back at The Burrow, forever helpful to his parents and siblings. He had been there for George when they all were mourning Fred and while Harry knew that he was trustworthy, he felt a certain level of awkwardness being around Percy. Harry also realised that he had never been alone with Percy before and was lost trying to come up with things to say. He was extremely perturbed when Hermione's portkey transported her away but he trusted Percy enough to follow him down an unused underground pathway.

"The house elves use this to transport food and cleaning supplies" explained Percy when Harry looked incredulously at the tiny safety helmets piled onto a corner at the entrance of the passageway. "There is a direct entrance to the Minister's office through this path so this may be the best way to avoid detection."

"Err Percy.." started Harry. "What's going on? Why does the Minister want to meet me?".

Percy stopped suddenly, making Harry collide with his back and forcing Percy into an almost comical ballet pose with one leg horizontal and one arm in front as he tried to maintain his balance. "Sorry, sorry" whispered Harry.

Percy stood up straight and brushed his robes. "Harry, it's better if the minister explains this but that deal they offered Malfoy basically involves you and I cannot believe they did this." He shook his head slightly as he said the last part unable to believe the audacity of the ministry. Percy continued down the path.

"But why would Kingsley do that? He's an Order member. What's this deal anyway?" Harry couldn't help himself. He needed to know.

"I don't know too much about the details of the deal so I better leave that for Kingsley to explain." Percy continued slowly. "But essentially, I don't think Kingsley is behind all this. It's probably..", Percy lowered his voice as he whispered "..Selwyn, Farringer and the lot. They have it in for Malfoy although pretty much everyone seems to have it in for him."

"Why.." but just as Harry started questioning his role in the deal, Percy stopped in front of what looked like a dumbwaiter. He knocked on the metal door with his wand three times and whispered "_praepositura"_ while drawing a strange rectangular pattern. Instantly, the dumbwaiter expanded as the doors opened to reveal a staircase leading upwards.

"This is where I leave you, Harry" said Percy. "I reckon Kingsley is in there waiting to explain everything about this ridiculous "_Poena Magnus" _to you. Oh and.." Percy reached into his pockets and withdrew a paperclip similar to one he had given Hermione. "Just in case you need it, you can activate it by expanding this bit here" he pointed to a slightly discoloured extension to the paperclip "and it will take roughly 30 seconds to transport you."

"Thanks Percy" nodded Harry, pocketing the portkey as he turned towards the stairwell. Percy stretched his lips into a smile that came out more like a grimace as he began closing the magic door behind Harry. As Harry cautiously made his way up, wand in hand, he could have sworn he heard Percy murmur "I wish Dad was here".

* * *

"The most recent well known "_Poena Magnus __Matrimonium"_ was between Ignatius Prewett, my uncle and Lucretia Black. You may have seen their names in the Black tapestry at Grimmauld Place." said Mrs Weasley. "Back then, these kind of marriages were fairly common. You may have even studied about the most famous historical example, the Wedding of the Hundred Roses it was called.

Hermione gasped loudly. Ofcourse she knew that. They had covered it in History of Magic in sixth year. "The civil war caused by the Burkes and the Gamps in 1379 because the Burkes destroyed the Gamp's rose garden."

Molly looked impressed that Hermione remembered that. Ginny vaguely nodded "Something to do with the dragonpox too right?" she asked.

"The plague, Gin, it made loads of people sick and so lots of people were buying roses for the ill and the Gamps were in the flower business and they were making lots of money but the Burkes got jealous and destroyed the gardens but then the Gamps told people that the scent of the rose was actually helping to alleviate the pain of the dragonpox and so the Burkes...umm got in a lot of trouble" beamed Ron despite his faltering ending.

Molly, Hermione and Ginny stared at Ron in disbelief. "Professor Binns made me write an extra report as detention and you actually helped me with it Mione" he added, a blush creeping up on his face.

"Well, colour me surprised" said Molly glowing at Ron. "You're absolutely right. So as punishment for destroying what was essentially a pain killer during the dark times, the heir of the Burke Estate, I cannot remember his name, had to marry a Gump daughter under the "_Poena Magnus __Matrimonium"._ It was a way of saying, now you are one family, you take care of each other and we put this behind us."

"That's terrible but I thought the Burkes had to give the Gumps ownership of their Scottish Highland" interjected Hermione.

"That's true, these deals are usually multilayered. When my uncle married Lucretia Black, I think the Blacks had to give up some of the family heirs." Molly looked thoughtfully at the cup of tea in her hand. "I think Muriel has some of them, a golden teacup, some diamond jewellery, although I bet some of them have dark magic in them."

Hermione in the meantime was trying to decipher what this meant for Malfoy. "So, in Malfoy's case, who is the other party? Is it Harry? What determines this?"

"I have no idea, dear. If anything, you mentioned that the boy was charged for his crime against Dumbledore so then Dumbledore should be the one doing the deal with Malfoy, but seeing as he is dead..." Molly drifted off. Everything set her off nowadays and Hermione caught her wiping away tears at the corner of her eyes as she pretended she wasn't stealing glances at Fred's photo on the mantlepiece.

"Mum, let me make you more tea." Ginny waved her wand at the kettle to heat some water while Ron walked over and wrapped an arm around his mother. For that entire minute, Hermione felt like an outsider as she watched Ginny make her mum another cup of tea and Ron gently comfort her. While she thought of the Weasleys as her own family, there were time such as these when she remembered that she was a Granger and she found her mind drifting towards Australia.

"So then why have they called Harry?" Ginny thought out loud, turning to Hermione and bursting her melancholic longing for her own parents.

"I don't know, but don't worry Gin, I doubt Harry would ever choose Malfoy over you" sniggered Ron as he helped himself to another slice of cake. Ginny shot a hex at Ron as Molly scolded her two children. Hermione leaned back with a smile. They would get over this together but first 'Where was Harry?'

* * *

Harry scowled at the Minister of Magic. "Why am I part of this weird Matrimonium thing again?"

Kingsley calmly looked at Harry and began patiently explaining once again "Because he was a deatheater and they are Voldermort supporters and you were Voldermort's archenemy, if you will, which makes you the other party extending this deal."

"But I didn't extend the deal, the ministry did" argued Harry for what felt like the umpteeth time. They had been having this circular conversation for the last 15 minutes and Harry wished he still had Hermione with him for moderation.

"Yes Harry, but the Ministry was acting in your name by appointing a lawyer to fight the case against Mr Malfoy and now they have mediated this deal between Mr Malfoy and you."

"But I didn't agree to this deal!" groaned Harry.

Kingsley slowly clenched and unclenched his fists, the only sign so far that he was losing his patience. "I know Harry, but this is a very common practise. Once the ministry lawyer has been appointed to cover your case for you, they make the decisions for you. No one willingly enters the Poena Magnus".

"Aha, but this case was between Malfoy and the People" exclaimed Harry suddenly remembering the announcement made this morning. He expected Kingsley to look surprised or impressed that Harry had found a way out. Unfortunately the look Kingsley gave him was pure sorrow.

"You are right, absolutely right. But it was the broadest interpretation I could make. In these situations typically, unless a party approved by the Ministry takes responsibility for the Poena Magnus" Kingsley gestured to Harry, "the responsible party becomes the victim of the accused, which will be Dumbledore here." Kingsley continued to stare at Harry in despair.

"Why is that a bad thing?" asked Harry cautiously.

"Because, while Dumbledore does not have any living female relatives, he mentioned one living female in his final will and testament making her his direct beneficiary." lamented Kingsley.

Harry's eyes widened and he could feel his pulse quicken. "No way! Not Hermione. She's not marrying that, that jerk" Harry stood up abruptly and stormed over to Kingsley. "Well what's the alternative then?"

"If you take responsibility and since you do no have any direct female relatives, we may be able to find a muggleborn witch who is comfortable marrying Malfoy. In that scenario, all you will have to do is endorse her." blurted out Kingsley in a faster than normal pace. While he wasn't scared of Harry, he didn't want to get Harry on his wrong side.

Harry sighed deeply. "Why Kingsley? I thought you would be different. Why are you doing this?"

Kingsley got up without saying a word, walked over to his bookcase and retrieved a large red tome. He placed it in front of Harry and opened it. The inside of the tome contained moving graphics, charts and words. Kingsley used his wand to draw a white string from the middle of the book which magically transformed into a graph on inflation and interest rates.

Kingsley started explaining vigorously now, pointing to the constantly changing graphs floating above the tome on the table. "The economy is doing terribly. The war has left a massive impact on the country. We need to give hope to people but at the same time we need to be realistic." He emphasised on the word hope, trying to draw out its meaning.

"Draco Malfoy is the hardest case that the court has had to deal with. He is the youngest deatheater which makes him instantly despicable to most of the public, his unfortunate circumstances means that a proper trial would have acquitted him, eventually after placing him in prison for a few years first. But we cannot afford to keep him in Azkaban for so long, one because it would be wrong but also because of his last name, which means a lot to a lot of people - we need the Malfoys to help revive the economy, we need their Industries, we need their money. A suitable punishment would be do destroy what his family stands for _"Sanctimonia Vincet Simper"_ -Purity will always conquer, by making him marry a muggleborn. Atleast that was the intention behind the _Poena Magnus". _

Kingsley stopped to take a breath.

"But?" asked Harry who could sense the hesitation.

"This plea deal was offered to Draco Malfoy, two weeks ago. The court, it was a sham meant to grab the media attention. This news, it will change public opinion, shame the Malfoys but also lead them to accept his acquittal which is exactly what we needed. " continued Kingsley.

"But?" Harry interjected again, a little bit more forcefully. He didn't like where this seemed to go.

"But, we have been unable to find any suitable muggleborn and..." Kingsley faltered once more. He suddenly looked tired and older than he had ever appeared. "Spellbound ran an article last weekend about your relationship with Hermione and this was after we made the deal with Malfoy. Do you remember what you said?"

Harry blinked. This was random. He wondered if they were still spinning Hermione and him as a couple. But he had been caught kissing Ginny at the Battle so everyone knew they were dating. "What did I say?" he asked Kingsley.

Kingsley pulled out a magazine from under his table. The headline of Spellbound read "Hermione's the sister I never had - Harry Potter". Harry felt the blood flow out of his face. He needed to sit down. "No way. Not Hermione again. Not to that horrible ferret. I will never let that happen" he breathed. "We'll find someone else. It's okay if we find someone else right?" he checked in with Kingsley.

Kingsley nodded. "I am deeply sorry" he punctuated slowly "and I will ensure that you have all the resources at your disposal".

Harry turned to Kingsley, his face a mixture of fury and conviction. "First, you still need to explain why we weren't informed two weeks ago. "

"Harry, let me tell you a little secret, the minister of magic holds no real power. I only got to know about this in the early hours of this morning. Kingsley explained, his voice strained and if Harry didn't know better, he might have thought that Kingsley looked embarrassed. "I promise, we are on the same side here" Kingsley added extending his arm to grip Harry's shoulder lightly albeit awkwardly.

Harry stared at Kingsley for a long moment before nodding once. "From here on, complete transparency and communication wherever we are involved?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Promise."

* * *

Author's note: Next up, Hermione and the Weasleys find out. Can they find a muggleborn witch to marry Draco? What's going on with Draco at this point. Please review and let me know what you like and what you don't.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

"Alright, so all we need to do is find a muggleborn over the age of 17 who is willing to marry Malfoy and then both Harry and Hermione will be in the clear." reiterated Ginny. "We are doomed" moaned Ron theatrically. "It will probably be easier to break into Gringotts again." Ron wore a thoroughly distraught look as he looked forlornly at his sister who had her I-am-ready-for-a-fight face on.

Harry had returned to The Borrow via Floo from the Minister's Office to find Molly, Ron, Ginny and Hermione eagerly waiting for him. Molly had made Harry eat a gigantic slice of cake before allowing the others to bombard him with questions and while all of them had been extremely curious to find out the truth, none of them had remotely expected the reality to be so close to 'the plot of a cheap trashy novel' as Hermione put it.

Molly was currently discussing the issue with Arthur who was making a Floo call from France and so the quartet found themselves alone once more, faced with yet another impossible task. "It can't be that hard. Malfoy is still loaded right?" Ginny asked the gang while pacing the kitchen with long strides that reminded Harry of Professor Mcgonagall's famously scary patrols. "Yea, but he's a stinky pus-filled cockroach" hit back Ron who was furiously chewing on a wand shaped black liquorice that Harry hoped was not one of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes products.

Harry glanced subtly at Hermione as the siblings argued about the existence of gold digger muggleborns. He had told her everything Kingsley had told him without holding back. Yes, it had been awkward to explain that the Ministry expected her to marry Malfoy but if anyone was smart enough to figure a way out, Harry knew that it was Hermione. She hadn't said much regarding the predicament they were in, but she had been furiously taking notes. He was wary of her anger and wished he could see what she was writing or at least have an inking about what she was thinking. Hermione suddenly sat up, disrupting the banter between the siblings and shaking Harry from his thoughts. "I need to send a few owls, can I borrow Pig?" she asked Ron, before running out of the room without waiting for a confirmation. "I absolutely hate when she does that" sighed Ron dragging his hands down his face dramatically.

A loud bang followed by storm of friendly voices signalled the arrival of the rest of the Weasley clan including Percy, Bill, Fleur and Andromeda who was carrying Teddy in her arms. The rest of the night passed off with speculation and suggestions from everyone although no one really knew of a suitable candidate who will satisfy the _poena magnus_ condition. Molly mentioned that Arthur was doing all that he can do obtain intel from inside the Ministry and that he expected to be back as soon as the sensitive issue with the French Ministry was resolved. Everyone had questions about the trial and Harry spent the whole evening being passed around clarifying doubts and repeating the happenings of the entire day. Hermione on the other hand spent the evening whisking different people off to a corner of the room and taking notes with the same level of concentration she would show when revising for her exams. Harry noticed that she had spent an awful lot of time with Percy and was beginning to feel incredibly curious about their conversation. But he would have to wait till the next day for Hermione excused herself early, citing tiredness and returned to Grimmauld Place along with Andromeda and Teddy who had fallen asleep with no concern for the loud chattering crowd.

By the time, Harry returned to Grimmauld Place, Hermione was presumably asleep, although Harry suspected that she was avoiding him and not even Ginny's kisses could soothe his bruised ego and feelings of self-worthlessness at his inability to protect his best friend.

* * *

Hermione woke up with a throbbing headache and a lot of loud noises. "Make it stop, pleaaaasee" cried out Ginny from under the covers of her bed. Hermione opened her eyes slowly and located the source of cacophony. Three owls at the window were screeching and fighting over the window ledge. Hermione unceremoniously rolled out of bed, grabbed her wand and silenced the birds. Now, fully awake, she strode to the windows and opened them holding her hand out for the nearest owl. A large snow white owl that reminded Hermione of Hedwig, held out its leg revealing a letter from the Improper Use of Magic office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Hermione shivered slightly as she stood at the window, letting in Pig next, who nipped at her finger in anger at being ignored for so long. He was carrying the morning paper which was unusual since she no longer subscribed to any papers and relied on Andromeda's Goblin delivery system. Pig flew in with the newspaper and sat on Ginny's pillow, holding his leg out to her instead and so gently sucking her hurt finger, Hermione turned to the third owl. Brown and large, he flashed his nametag proudly at her as he held out his leg. The letter attached was enclosed in a shiny expensive looking envelope with the address on it written in calligraphy. Hermione didn't need to open the letter to know who it was from. The owl was familiar, his name- BASER was also known to her, the pompous letter could be from only one person- Narcissa Malfoy and right now, just thinking of her made Hermione angry and sick to her stomach.

Hermione placed the letters on the bedside table and filled the water bowl for the owls. She was contemplating which one to open first when she heard Ginny gasp. "Hermione you need to see this!" Ginny held out the newspaper. "The Ministry has officially announced that Harry is going to honour the _Poena Magnus_." Hermione grabbed the letters, made her way to Ginny and crawled under her duvet.

MALFOY'S BRIDE: WHO WILL THE CHOSEN ONE CHOOSE

"Of course it was Skeeter who came up with that lousy heading" scoffed Ginny. Hermione scanned the article quickly with grim satisfaction. "Where are the boys? It may be better to discuss this with them. "Are you going to tell us what you were doing last night and what those letters are?" asked Ginny, with smug satisfaction as Hermione realised that she hadn't been subtle with her tasks the previous night. "I'm one step ahead of you" she grinned, taking out her DA galleon. "I just sent a message, it should have burned now and I know that Harry keeps his galleon close to him". Hermione shivered, this time not because of the cold but because of the memories of the messages that the galleon had carried ever since after the war. Harry and Ginny had used the galleon in the last few weeks to booty call one another and clearly didn't realise that other people also received the messages. She never wanted to see a mention of Harry's bottom and decided that she was going to gift Ginny two lockets with a Protean charm designed just between the two of them to use as they wished. This galleon business had to stop.

Like clockwork, Harry and Ron materialised into the room with a loud crack. Ron looked half asleep while Harry looked like he hadn't slept a wink all night. Ginny wordlessly handed over the newspapers to the boys while gesturing Hermione to explain. "So, last night, after Harry told us about his meeting with Kingsley" Hermione nodded at Harry before continuing, "I sent a letter to Skeeter reminding her of my appreciation for her a few summers ago and how important it is that this appreciation "BE TILL" the end of her career." Ron guffawed loudly while Harry and Ginny grinned in appreciation and awe at Hermione's ability to go from being nice to being terrifying. "BE TILL like BEETLE Haha that's brilliant" huffed Ron still in tears. Hermione giggled at his behaviour while Ginny whispered "You are the boss!" and bowed gently. Harry pointed to the article, "So this was written by you?" he clarified. "Yes, it's essentially an advertisement for any willing muggleborn bride to owl you with their information. Sorry, I didn't ask but I was hoping that you wouldn't mind" she added sheepishly. Harry grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. "I was so scared that you were mad at me". "Of course I don't mind. I knew you would come up with something" he added, pulling away.

"I've been thinking about this too" Ron mumbled, sobering up. He got up and knelt down by the side of the bed and pulled out a jelly bean from his pocket. "Hermione, will you marry me?" he asked holding up the jellybean. "Umm, I didn't have a ring, this was the only think I found in my wardrobe." The silence stretched across the room as Harry and Ginny kept glancing at each other and between Hermione and Ron. "Ummm, Hermione?" Ron waved the jellybean in front of her face slowly. Hermione who had until then looked frankly stunned into silence, burst out laughing. She threw her arms around Ron, almost tripping over the duvet in the process. "Oh Ron, this is why I love you" she smiled. "We aren't even together and you would do this for me. I know you mean this well but this won't solve anything. Harry will still be left trying to honour his end of the arrangement unless we can find a willing muggleborn". "So, perhaps we can keep this as a bit of a last minute worst case arrangement?" Hermione cocked her head to the side as she waited for Ron's response. He looked a little surprised at his own proclamation and a little sheepish at her response. What she didn't know was that her consideration of their marriage as a worst case arrangement had hurt and saddened him. "Of course!" he said sheepishly, getting up and helping Hermione to her feet. Embarrassed at the incident, he rubbed his neck awkwardly but was pleasantly surprised when Ginny offered him a chocolate frog along with a mildly impressed look.

"What's this, Hermione?" asked Harry. The letters that Hermione had placed on her lap had fallen onto the ground when she had hugged Ron. "Well you know how the trace tracks underage magic. That means that the Improper Use of Magic office which issues the trace must have a list of all the underage witches in the UK now along with information about their lineage which means...". "We can identify age appropriate witches" finished Ginny, excitedly as she shuffled closer to Harry and hi-fived him. While Hermione tore open the thick envelope, Ron cut in soberly "That's awesome but we still have the same problem, right? Why would any of them want to marry Malfoy?" Ginny threw a pillow at her brother temporarily dissolving the chocolate frog truce, while Hermione opened what looked like it could be 70 inches of parchment. "The bastards" she swore, "they blacked out all the essential information including lineage and contact details." As she unscrolled the parchment further, the others leaned in for a look. There were names of thousands of witches provided in alphabetical order with every information but their names, blackened. "This must be a sick joke" Ginny gasped. "But I wonder if our names are in here" she thought out loud. "Oh my, is that Andromeda!" gasped Harry. Sure enough, they had reached Andromeda Black. "This is useless, this list must include women from the 1800s to be this long" Hermione said between clenched teeth. "Why bother sending it then?" asked Harry, reaching out to gently squeeze Hermione's hand in support. "Because I threatened to play the Dolores Umbridge card and oust the atrocities the department committed if they didn't send it by morning. So they complied with my demand while making it impossible for me to learn anything worthwhile. Ugh!" she practically growled.

Someone knocked at the door just then and Kreacher walked in "The Black mistress wonders why you aren't at breakfast." Without waiting for a reply, he shut the door and disappeared once more. "Why is he so weird?" Ginny asked rhetorically. Ron's tummy growled as if on command. "Why don't you boys go first, we'll get dressed and come" suggested Hermione. "The newspaper article was a great idea 'Mione. It's all going to be fine" Ron comforted Hermione before walking out of the room. Harry squeezed Hermione's hand once more before pressing a soft kiss against Ginny's cheek and running after Ron. "You guys are so sickeningly in love" teased Hermione. Ginny grinned back "Yea but no one has ever proposed to me even if it was with a jellybean." Hermione laughed gently before picking up the last letter. "Oh we had one more letter. I completely forgot. Who is that from?" asked Ginny.

Hermione toyed with the letter in her hands, turning it over and studying it. "Narcissa Malfoy, I think I would like some breakfast before I open this though" she whispered ignoring Ginny's angry gasp at the sender's identity. "Come on, Hermione, you could burn that letter without reading it for all I care. Screw her!" Ginny forcefully pulled Hermione up, thrusting her robes into her hand and pulled her towards the door. "Come on it's breakfast time now." Hermione followed Ginny out of the room after quickly stuffing the letter into her beaded bag. The letter could wait. The time for being nice to Narcissa was officially over.

* * *

"It's almost noon" exclaimed Hermione "Why didn't you wake us up earlier?". "You had had such a long day yesterday filled with so much excitement, you needed the rest" nodded Andromeda as she sat at the head of the table eating a salad. "Plus, I may have slept in too" she smirked. "What about Teddy? Where is he?" asked Ginny for the toddler could not be seen in the room which was highly uncustomary. "He is sleeping in too, I sent the boys to check in on him just in case" said Andromeda "The poor boy got up at four and then promptly fell asleep at eight. He really is a handful". Ginny shared a guilty look with Hermione. They had all promised to help out with Teddy but they invariably left him to Andromeda and while she loved taking care of her grandson, she was far too old to be waking up at odd hours and looking after a newborn. "Sorry, Andromeda, why don't you leave him with us today and take a break" suggested Hermione. Andromeda sipped her coffee and gently shook her head. "I suspect, you all have a lot to do, especially regarding the _Poena Magnus _situation. If there is anyway I can help you, I would be happy to do so. Anyway Harry has already received so much mail this morning, it will take him a while to read through them, although they are probably just fan mail as usual" Andromeda added waving her hands towards the large balcony window at the end of the kitchen. Sure enough, a large pile with tens of letters could be found on the floor. With a graceless jump and a happy shout, Hermione dropped her toast and ran to the pile of letters with Ginny in tow.

When Harry and Ron entered the kitchen, Harry was gobsmacked to find a happy Hermione. "I found one Harry, only one so far but that's all we needed right?" With a meaningless curtsy, she stepped aside for an imaginary person. "Has she gone crazy?" whispered Ron. Ginny gracefully glided past the curtsying Hermione, wearing the same crazy grin that Hermione was sporting, as she loudly announced "Meet the future Mrs Malfoy". Ginny paused theatrically, moving to the other side and bowing low. "The one and only Margaret Jones" announced Hermione, breaking character and waving the letter at the boys. "Girls are mental" Ron groaned half in exasperation at the ridiculous skit and half in relief that a solution to Harry's honour and Hermione's virtue was in sight.

* * *

Author's note: Who is Margaret Jones? Is she just a poor muggleborn who needs financial stability or is she something else? What did Narcissa write to Hermione? Will they meet the mysterious Margaret and what does Draco think of her? Next chapter will finally have some Dramione scenes.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

"Why can't I come along?" Ginny huffed at Harry, her arms crossed at her chest, eyebrow twitching. "And me?" Ron added indignantly, as he loomed over Hermione who was tying her scarf loosely around her neck. Harry shuffled backwards, reeling under Ginny's angry gaze. "Hermione will explain everything!" he shouted abruptly after giving Hermione a pleading glance and bolting out of the room "I need to pick up some stuff...". They could hear him shouting his non-excuse as he sped to his room.

Hermione turned towards the siblings, "You read the letter from Kingsley too. The Margaret Jones, soon to be Malfoy has finally arrived at the Ministry after going through all the crazy checks. I mean I didn't expect those checks to take an entire week" she rambled a little, disconcerted at the look Ginny was giving her. "So if all things go well, Harry gets to introduce Malfoy to Margaret and the whole thing will be signed and sorted today" she continued flashing them a small smile.

"Right! I get that part, but why can't Ron and I come with you and Harry to the ministry?" Ginny scowled.

"Well, Harry has to be there to honour the deal and approve Margaret and I... well I'm kinda involved aren't I?" Hermione stared down into her beaded bag as she leafed through its contents, pretending to be busy.

"That's exactly the problem" Ron gasped. "If something goes wrong, it's better you were further away." He was clearly agitated.

Hermione looked up sternly at Ron. "Look, let's not fight. The approval has come in for Harry and me, whatever the agenda of the ministry and I just want this to be done."

"But what if it's a trap?" Ginny spoke softly, her face showing pure concern.

"Then, I'll inform you immediately and we can work it out." Hermione assured Ginny, holding up the Galleon indicating the medium of communication.

Ron looked unconvinced but Ginny nodded softly. "Alright, take care. Remember - constant vigilance" she whispered with a smile. Hermione turned to Ron who reached out and squeezed her hands expressing his concern for her, distrust of the Ministry and dislike of Malfoy and the incident with a glance. Squeezing his hands back, Hermione pulled away, leaving the room and the Weasleys for the fireplace.

Sure enough Harry was waiting for her there. He gave her a lopsided grimace like smile. "I don't understand why they are so mad" Harry shook his head.

"It's because of the newspaper articles Harry! All those nasty thinks they have been writing about." Hermione bit her lower lip and gave a scornful glance at the newspaper bundle in the corner of the room.

When Hermione had reached out to Margaret Jones and informed the Ministry about this match, the newspapers had somehow got wind of this and when they were unable to reach out to Margaret, they had turned vile and spiteful. Some papers wrote that Harry was using his Chosen One status to bully innocent Muggleborns into marrying Malfoy, after all who in their right mind would want to do so. Rita's most successful article explored the theory of how Dumbledore should be the one honouring the _Poena Magnus" _which made Hermione the lawful Malfoy bride due to her being mentioned in his last will. The Ministry's lack of response contradicting these stories only meant that the media were having a field day in vilifying Hermione.

"Its okay Hermione, after today, we can finally get a press statement from Margaret and the nightmare will be over." Harry held out the Floo powder "Let's go" he said, motioning towards the Floo. "Let's get this chapter over with."

Turning towards Harry, Hermione blinked hard. His naive optimism constantly surprised her. She needed to think clearly. It wouldn't do to get emotional at this stage. There was a lot they still didn't know. Why did the check for Margaret take so long? Why was she invited to the Ministry today and not Ron? In fact, the letter had explicitly stated that no one else would be permitted inside. There were too many unanswered questions and that wasn't a good sign. Straightening her body, she held her chin up and reached for the Floo powder. They had fought a war together and they could deal with anything. Harry was right after all, either way this chapter would finally end today. With a curt nod, she stepped into the large fireplace and enunciated loudly "The Ministry Towers".

* * *

The room was white. Too white. The walls appeared to be made out of white stone as were the ceilings and Floor. There were no furnitures anywhere in sight and the only wall hanging turned out to be a creepy white tapestry with strange bumpy lines all across giving it a maze like impression. They had entered the Floo to find themselves in a large vacant dungeon. Having never been to the Ministry Towers before, Hermione had been a little alarmed until Harry had walked through the Floo, seconds after her.

Together they explored the eery room until Harry discovered a door hidden behind a suit of armour. With no better options, they had opened it to find themselves in a white corridor where they came face to face with two Aurors. The one who had introduced himself as Rubbards offered no explanations except to insist that only Harry was to be taken to see the Death Eater and that Hermione was to wait in the waiting room, that Henriett the other Auror would lead her to. With a perceptive glance at Hermione, Harry had followed Rubbards while Henriett had brought her to the strange white room before exiting just as suddenly.

Hermione stood in front of the tapestry trying to make sense of the strange lines. With nothing else to engage her interest, she was attempting to identify what the tapestry could represent.

"It is a map of the Ministry offices" came a heavy voice.

Hermione spun around towards the voice. "Kingsley" she gasped, pleasantly surprised. Last she had heard, he had joined Mr Weasley in France, trying to settle the international issue. "I thought you were in.." she stopped just as suddenly when she saw that there was another man behind Kingsley.

"Ms Granger, I am Head Councillor Farringer. It's a great pleasure to meet such an accomplished and beautiful woman like you." Farringer reached towards Hermione, extending his hand. Hermione extended her hand intending to give a handshake was alarmed when he turned it around, kissing the back of her hand before standing up straight in a large dramatic motion. "The pictures in the newspapers do you no justice. Beautiful" he exclaimed making Hermione extremely uncomfortable.

Luckily for Farringer, before Hermione could hex him or express her opinion on the matter, Kingsley said "Now, now, Butley, why don't we explain why we are here." Then without waiting for Farringer to respond, he continued, "Hermione, I just met with Harry, who should be discussing the matter at hand with Mr Malfoy right now and we were hoping that you could do the same with Ms Jones. I have been informed that the Ministry under Farringer's supervision..." Farringer beamed at this point, bobbing his head proudly. ".. have finished running background checks on Ms Jones and today, we will officially introduce Ms Jones to Mr Malfoy and if there are no trepidations from either side, we can consider the matter settled."

"Why me?" Hermione asked squarely.

Farringer opened his mouth and fearing his tangent, Hermione added "Any of you could have updated her as well. Ginny could have done it. Why me?"

Kingsley nodded his head as Hermione questioned him. "It's fairly simple, when we asked Ms Jones if she wanted any one with her, she asked for you."

Hermione squinted at the Minister. It was true that she had struck up a correspondence with Margaret over the week so it wasn't too impossible that what Kingsley was saying was true. "Alright, take me to her" she said, flashing the two men a beaming smile.

* * *

Harry frowned at the unkept, ragged man in front of him. Malfoy was sitting on a heavy wooden chair in front of Harry, his hands bound to the top of a steel table that separated him from Harry. Malfoy had his head down and didn't appear to have noticed Harry's entry. He was wearing his prisoner robes, which proudly displayed the number 190979 on its front. Harry felt sudden pity for the prisoner in front of him. He was just a boy, a boy who Dumbledore had believed still had some good in him, a boy who at the time it mattered most had decided to switch sides, at least that's why he must have thrown Harry his wand at the Battle of Hogwarts, he figured.

_Was Malfoy sleeping? _Harry cleared his throat loudly, shuffling his feet where he stood.

Malfoy stirred, looking up wearily, his eyes almost hidden by his dirty locks of overgrown blonde hair. "Potter, it's a pleasure to see you. I would offer you something to drink but.." he shook his hands making the shackles that held his hands to the table appear "I'm afraid I literally can't be hospitable."

Harry snorted, unable to hide what he really thought of Malfoy's hospitality. "Right, let's get to business shall we. You will be released with restrictions on wand usage for the first three years when you wed a witch I recommend."

Malfoy cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to be an Auror, Potter. Didn't really think you would become a pimp so soon." He smirked at Harry who was visibly getting flustered.

Harry remembered what Hermione had told him this morning -_ "We are doing him a favour Harry, don't let him forget it and don't let him goad you. He's all bark, no bite, remember?"_

"Want to tell me why you threw me my wand at the Battle?" Harry's voice took on an edge as he looked at Malfoy sternly.

Malfoy stared back at Harry silently. He noticed Potter continuing to glare at him but he could see his fingers gently fidgeting in his periphery and knew that this was a round he would win. After all, he was used to enveloping silences since that's all he had had for months together at Azkaban.

Harry finally broke the silence "Don't you want to know who you are marrying?"

Malfoy jerked abruptly, staring at Potter in amazement. "You found someone?" he asked incredulously. Almost immediately he appeared to regret his outburst and started staring at his hands.

"Umm, yea. You didn't know? They are all over the newspapers."

"Oh, sorry, my house-elf must have forgotten to hand me my newspaper this morning along with my morning tea and scones when she woke me up at my I-am-in-a-fucking-prison land." Malfoy spat out, sarcasm dripping with every word.

Harry flushed. Of course Malfoy didn't have access to newspapers. But he had thought that someone else would have at least informed him by now.

"Eh, right. Of course. Well, yea, so we found someone. Why did you think I was here?"

"To gloat? To kill me? To tell me that Dumbledore awarded Gryffindor 500 points and that you won the house cup?"

Harry stare at him. "Why would I want to kill you?"

"Well what do you think happens if you don't find someone who can marry me?" Malfoy huffed. "Of course you never thought of that, you wanker" he added under his breath.

Harry breathed deeply. If he couldn't find anyone, all that would happen to him was that he would lose face in public but then there was always Dumbledore's beneficiary - Hermione. Luckily, Malfoy didn't seem to know about it.

"This whole _Poena_ bullshit was just a way to spit on me. If you hadn't found a girl, I would be found in violation and sentenced to death. But looks like you did so 10 points to Gyffindor."

Malfoy was continuing to be obnoxious but he could sense the relief coursing through him. Ron was wrong, prison hadn't broken his spirit. In fact, Malfoy seemed starved for conversation and eager to get a rise out of him.

"Umm yea, so I'm going to go get her okay. Maybe you could clean up in the meantime?" Harry suggested blankly.

Malfoy stared at him in disbelief. "Was that a joke? You're a..." he seemed almost embarrassed as he ended with a "..moron."

Harry rolled his eyes and knocked on the door, which was promptly opened by Auror Rubbards. Harry found himself breathing freely only when he was back in the corridor. Malfoy had always been a piece of work and today had been no exception. He couldn't help wishing he was far far away, perhaps on a Carribean island, sunbathing on the beach with Ginny.

* * *

"Hi, I'm Margaret Jones."

Margaret wore large grey matted robes that covered her body head to toe. She wore a large green hat that appeared to be in its last leg and seen better days. As she held out her hand, Hermione was startled to see scratches on her wrist that were too severe to be from that of a cat. Over all, there was no doubt, that if Pansy Parkinson was on one side of a spectrum, Margaret Jones was in the opposite end. Based on her letters, she appeared to have been born to Muggle parents out of wedlock and her father had run out on them within weeks of her being born. Her mother as a single parent, raised her with her waitressing money. She had chosen not to attend Hogwarts, since that would have left her poor mother alone which was a dangerous position for a single lady to be in, in that neighbourhood. Margaret had gone on to explain that her mother was recently diagnosed as a narcolepsic and had therefore become unable to work anymore since she would constantly fall asleep wherever she was, whether at work or on the roads. So, that made marrying Malfoy a lucrative opportunity and she didn't mind the Death Eater stigma because with the money she could finally take care of her mother.

"Hi Margaret. It's nice to see you." Hermione shook her hands, trying to subtly ascertain what the scratch marks on her wrists were.

"Oh you noticed my scars." Margaret blushed. My ex-boyfriend used to tie me to the bed when we were, you know.." she blushed some more.

Hermione's eyes widened. Margaret was a year younger than her but they clearly came from different worlds. At least sex was not something that Hermione would ever speak of so lightly, openly, especially about something so deviant.

"Eh. How are you?" Hermione sought to change the topic.

"I'm fine. They have had me come in every day this last week, to check some record or the other. It's been so tedious but I'm looking forward to meeting Draco Malfoy. Tell me, is he as horrible as everyone makes him out to be. Should I be worried."

Hermione blinked as she processed Margaret's concern. "Malfoy..., he's not horrible, I don't think he will ever physically hurt you, also that would revoke his deal, but he is harsh with his words. He says horrible things, called me a Mudblood for years but if you followed his trial, what the court didn't show was that he would have probably been acquitted of everything although it may have taken some time. I think it's good for you to be cautious but I don't think you should fear him. He's alright."

Margaret turned quiet at her words. The cheery disposition she had portrayed disappeared and once more Hermione was left with a feeling that they were from different worlds. The expression on her face was dark. Had she scared the poor girl?

"Do you have any other questions?" Hermione asked, flashing a friendly smile and trying to look cheerful.

Margaret shook her head as she sat down. But after a few seconds she spoke up "I thought you hated him. He was a bully and a death eater but you sound almost sympathetic."

Hermione looked amused at the comment. "Oh he was a terrible bully and one time I even punched him, but I don't think he was ever death eater material. I guess I do feel sorry for the position he was in. I don't like him but that doesn't mean I want him dead, you know." she shrugged.

Margaret appeared to shrink within her robes as she nodded her understanding before retreating into solitude.

Hermione sat next to her impatiently. _Where was Harry? This was fairly uncomfortable and disconcerting. They were convincing this poor girl into a lifetime with Malfoy. _She was a little surprised to find that everything she had said had come from her heart. She hadn't been lying for the sake of persuading Margaret. At the same time marrying Malfoy was not a picnic in the park and Hermione hoped that she wasn't misleading Margaret.

* * *

Rubbards had left Harry alone in the corridor with a promise of returning soon with the girls. Soon enough, he could see Hermione walking towards him with another girl. The famous Margaret Jones. Harry's first impression of her was that she was very forgettable. She looked like someone you would pass on a street without a second glance. On closer glance, he noticed that she had bright eyes that watched him with visible interest. He was used to people staring at him, but Margaret was looking at him like she knew things that he didn't. Frowning, he looked at Hermione and gave her a worried smile. Hermione looked a little conflicted, like she wasn't sure what they were doing in the corridor.

"Malfoy's right through here. Hi Margaret." Harry gave her a nod.

She smiled back, her eyes unexplainably large. "Hi Harry, nice to meet you."

"Eh, just a head's up, Malfoy's been in prison for a while now so he looks..eh.. pretty shoddy. But he's ususally.." Harry looked panicked and gave Hermione a pleading look.

Hermione hid a grin. She couldn't believe Harry was trying to butter Malfoy up for Margaret. "Pretty fit. Most women seem to think he's hot" Hermione continued, now openly grinning at Harry's visible discomfort.

Margaret shrugged. "Sure" she said. "Can I meet him?"

"Yea, of course. Through here" he pointed, opening the door and walking in first. Auror Rubbards, who had returned with the girls held the door open as Hermione walked in. Margaret paused outside the door for a few seconds. Taking a deep breath, she walked in steadily, purposefully.

* * *

Malfoy could hear voices outside the door. He was curious and anxious to see his bride. It was bizarre but he had never imagined marrying so young but the idea of his marriage being arranged didn't shock him as much since Purebloods typically had arranged marriage contracts drawn up when they are of age. He had always known to expect an arranged marriage. The only problem was that he was sure she would be a Muggleborn and that would be disgraceful. But given that the other option was currently death, he was willing to settle. He sighed thinking about the terrible possibilities. What kind of insane girl would want to marry him anyway. She would have to be certifiably insane.

So when the door opened and Harry walked in, Malfoy was on full alert, intrigued to see his future wife. Was she someone poor, someone crazy, someone old? Who could it be? Whatever Malfoy expected, he had never thought to see the familiar head of brown curls enter the room. "Granger" he spluttered before he could help himself. She stared at him curiously with wide inquisitive eyes.

Hermione was confused by Malfoy's reaction. He appeared shocked to see her which was odd given that she was always around Harry. It took a few seconds for the realisation to hit her - that he may have mistaken her for his bride. With horror, she shook her head, moving her hands to indicate that someone else was entering the room.

Harry appeared to have made the same realisation for he inarticulately coughed out "Eh.. Malfoy, this is eh..Ms Margaret Jones, and Margaret umm... this is eh.. Draco Malfoy"

Malfoy stared at Margaret in confusion for a few seconds.

"Hi Draco. Happy to see me?" Margaret sauntered into the room, waving at Malfoy.

A look of pure fear and shock appeared on Malfoy's face. "This isn't Margaret, this is Missy Travers!"

Even as Malfoy finished the sentence, Missy produced a wand from her robes and pointed it straight towards Draco. "Aww you remember me, my poor little Death Eater" she spat, venom in her words, her personality instantly turning dark as her eyes shined crazily.

* * *

Author's note: Hope you like it. Dramione in the next chapter, Promise. I didn't want to stop here but the chapter was getting too long for me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

"Missy? What are you doing here? I thought you were in France?" Draco barked as he jumped up, pushing back his chair. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he strained in vain against the magical ropes that bound his hands to the table.

Both Harry and Hermione instantly trained their wands at Missy, their disbelief at the unfolding events evident in their eyes. "Drop your wand" Harry warned Missy, as he took a small careful step towards her.

She giggled unexpectedly and spun around to face Harry, now pointing her wand straight at him. "Oh look! It's the world famous Boy-Who-Lived. "

Hermione covertly tried sliding towards Missy but was forced to stop when Missy faced her as well and scoffed "Mudblood, stay right where you are if you value the life of Harry Potter."

"Missy, listen to me", Draco pleaded, his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "I don't know what Travers has told you but you are making a stupid mistake. You don't have to do this. Look, I can get you out of whatever situation you're in. Just drop the wand and we can talk".

"Shut up, you weakling" spat out Missy, gritting her teeth, her wand unwavering as she pointed it at Harry.

"There is no way out for you. There are two wands pointed at you, Margaret. Juts listen to Malfoy." Hermione whispered, her eyes intently following Missy's every action.

"I said shut up. One more word and I'll have no trouble killing you instead. It will accomplish the same damn thing. And my name is MISSY, you STUPID LITTLE MUDBLOOD!" Missy screeched, sparks shooting out of her wand .

Harry instantly reacted by casting an _Expelliarmus_ at Missy, which Missy swiftly deflected. Her face expressing acute hatred, Missy then shot an unfamiliar spell with an intent to severely harm her opponents. A dangerous looking deep purple wisp shot out of Missy's wand reaching towards both Harry and Hermione. Hermione shot up a Shield charm that temporarily protected both of them from the wisp. However it looked like the spell used by Missy was Dark Magic as the wisp had now turned into black tendrils that were enveloping the shield. Harry strengthened the Shield charm while trying different spells to slow down the expanding tendrils. Hermione gasped as one of the ends came dangerously close to her eye. She cast a _Confringo_ at it, which temporarily blasted the ends off but the wisp continued to grow, sprouting new tendrils that continued to envelope them in a cocoon.

Missy in the meanwhile, with an evil scoff, turned away and sauntered back towards Malfoy "Looks like they are going to be busy for a while. It's just you and me now. Just. Like. Old. Times" she punctuated.

"What in Merlin's name is that spell?" Malfoy grunted, ignoring her statements as he writhed against the invisible ropes that tied his hands to the table.

"Really, that's what you want to know?" Missy looked surprised. "I thought you might care more about why I want to kill you?"

Malfoy furrowed his eyebrows. "You made it pretty clear that you do not want to talk. But, presumably this is your way of repaying me for helping you out?"

"Helping me out? Hahahaha, so that's what you thought you were doing? You..., you destroyed my life and now I'm here to take yours."

Malfoy quickly threw a glance towards the wisp. Harry and Hermione appeared to be struggling to contain it. Every spell they threw at it, seemed to have no effect. Realising that he needed to work with them on this, he addressed Missy in an awe-struck but scornful tone "How do you know such magic? What kind of spell is this?"

Missy giggled. "Aww stop the flattery. I was interested in you back then, when you were the youngest Death Eater ever, but now.." she scoffed meanly.

"Well, YOU were never THIS good back then" he snarled, straining his head to better observe the black wisps that now more closely resembled climbers hanging over support structures.

"Just a trick I learned. It is Dark Magic of course. A cooler version of Devil's Snare don't you think?" she snickered, drawing closer as she slipped her left hand inside her robes.

"DEVIL'S SNARE? Aaaah very cool." Malfoy engaged in a strange neutral and loud tone. "DEVIL'S SNARE" he yelled again, pointedly staring at Hermione.

Missy looked up at him in confusion, just as the room became enveloped in bright bluish white flames which vanished the snakelike tendrils and extinguished the dark purple wisps floating around. Malfoy ducked as a spell came flying near his head from the centre of the explosion. Harry stood with his hands stretched as he cast one spell after another towards Missy, holding her attention. Hermione, used the opportunity to surreptitiously slink along the walls at the back of the room as she made her way towards Malfoy.

"I went easy on you before, but you can forget about that." Harry yelled angrily as he aimed multiple curses at Missy in succession. Missy appeared to be struggling but she held her own against Harry until she caught sight of Hermione. In shock that Hermione had almost made it to Malfoy, Missy screamed and threw up such a large shied up that it blasted all of them off their feet. Before either Hermione or Harry could get up, Missy began screaming and ran towards Malfoy, at the same time reaching into her robes and drawing a small, sharp, curved dagger. Hermione hastily cast a Jelly-Legs curse at Missy, causing Missy to stumble. Having bought herself a few seconds and leaving Harry to deal with Missy, Hermione quickly sped towards Malfoy and threw herself on the table as she hastily tried to release his binds.

_"Expelliarmus" _Harry shouted, successfully retrieving Missy's wand. Wand-less and with jelly-locked legs, Missy finally looked defeated.

As Hermione continuing casting various spells at Malfoy's magical binds, she cast an eye at Missy and said "Margaret, drop the dagger, it's over."

Harry tiredly walked towards Missy, holding his wand out, watching her movements carefully. Malfoy breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever bizarre event had occurred, it appeared to finally be under control.

"Nice pointer with the Devil's Snare" Hermione whispered, sparing a glance at Malfoy.

Malfoy grunted in response, angling his body away from Hermione. Her position on the table was such that her hair constantly tickled his neck. Her knee was pressed against his ribs as she held his left arm and cast various incantations with her wand. Malfoy didn't ever remember being this close to Granger before and in his current state, he felt embarrassed and uncomfortable. He pulled away, his eyes wide as she leaned closer to his chest, her concentration entirely on the magical binds on his arms. She smelled fresh and divine to his tired, disheveled, prison self.

"Stay still Malfoy. Don't you want to be free?" Hermione snapped at Malfoy, readjusting her position and grabbing onto his upper arm to stop him moving.

Malfoy wearily glanced away from Hermione and looked up at Missy, who was staring at the ground despondently. He watched as her expression slowly but surely changed to one of pure unadulterated rage. He noticed suddenly that she appeared to be clutching something under robes. In panic, Malfoy opened his mouth to shout, but before he could warn the others, several things happened at once.

There was a huge bang, as the door to the room opened and several Aurors filed in. Unfortunately, they were trained to contain situations and so immediately upon entering, they attacked poor Harry as he was the only one holding an outstretched wand. Missy, took advantage of the confusion to run and jump towards the table, her arm extended, curved dagger in hand. Hermione who was sitting on the table between Missy and Malfoy, was directly in the line of attack. As Missy lunged, Hermione screamed as she felt a massive force shove her off the table.

Hermione looked up to see Missy in chains. The Aurors had finally captured her. Harry was standing at the end of the room with Auror Rubbards. Hermione quickly checked her shoulder and body for any damage as she stood up and was relieved to find that she was fine.

She glanced back at Harry before she noticed that something was wrong. Harry's face was white and panic-stricken. She glanced at Missy who was now sporting a maniacal grin. "You'll be dead in the next hour" she laughed. Hermione felt a chill pass through her spine as she realised that Missy was no longer holding the dagger. With horror, she glanced to her side at Malfoy. One of her spells must have worked for his hands had been released from the ropes that bound him to the table. He was sitting, no... he had slumped on to his chair, his hands blood soaked as he held them against his stomach trying to still the blood flow. At the side of his stomach, sat the golden hilt of the curved dagger. Malfoy's eyes appeared closed and his breathing laboured.

Hermione stared transfixed in shock - Malfoy had been stabbed.

It was only after the Aurors had carried Malfoy's body away to the healing unit and Harry had reached her side that Hermione realised something even more strange - Malfoy had been stabbed because he had shoved her away from danger.

* * *

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione passed Harry a cup of Hot Chocolate as they waited in the waiting room of the Healing unit. Apparently the interrogation room had been under observation by several Aurors including Rubbards in an adjacent room, however they had been unable to come to Harry's aid in time because someone had spelled the walls of that room to shrink. One of the Aurors, had ended up seriously injured and was also being treated at the moment. Farringer had apparently been walking Kingsley to the Portkey room where Kingsley had returned to France and so neither of them had had any inkling about the situation.

"I'm... I just thought... things would be normal now that Voldermort is dead."

Hermione sighed deeply. "I know what you mean. Clearly someone at the Ministry wants Malfoy dead."

"Not just him. She was going for you." Harry shivered at that thought. "And you? How are you doing?"

Hermione smiled grimly at Harry. "That did puzzle me though. Why was she trying to kill me?"

Harry shared what Malfoy had told him before. How Malfoy would be given the death sentence if they couldn't find someone to marry him.

"I guess she knew that you were his..." Harry paused, as he realised the implications of his statement.

"I'm his only hope." Hermione finished simply.

"No, we'll find someone else. I won't let that happen." Harry shook his head vehemently. "There has got to be another way."

Hermione sipped her drink quietly. "I need to get to a library. Find out more about this _Poena Magnus_ thing. We'll figure it out." She smiled weakly at Harry.

They sat quietly for a few minutes. Harry was growing increasingly restless as he constantly tapped his wand against his knee. "Do you reckon he will be okay?"

Hermione bit her lower lip and stared at the ground. "I.. I hope so."

Farringer chose that moment to appear. "Mr Malfoy is going to be okay." He chuckled inappropriately. "Phew, saved us from a media disaster." He continued chuckling to himself missing the looks of disbelief on Harry and Hermione's faces.

Hermione hadn't even thought of the outcry that would accompany this incident. She suddenly felt small and helpless and entirely unlike herself. They had almost died and that was apparently not the priority or concern for the Ministry.

Unaware of Hermione's internal turmoil, Farringer continued, "But we need to come up with a story. The media is waiting outside and we need to present a united front."

Harry scoffed loudly. "You've got to be kidding me! You spent a week doing checks on Margaret and you didn't find out that she was a psycho assassin. I'm not presenting anything with the Ministry."

Farringer dropped his facade and scowled. "Mr Potter, you are ultimately responsible for this outcome as the other party of this deal. You are incredibly lucky that Mr Malfoy survived and we did everything we could to help you and save him." He moved towards Harry imposingly while sparing Hermione a glance "Talk some sense into your friend, girl".

Hermione jumped to Harry's defence, reservations and insecurities forgotten. "Councillor, we have fought the Ministry before and we are not afraid of doing that again. I would be careful with my words if I were you when addressing the Chosen One, after all the entire world is indebted to the Boy Who Lived." She breathed in deeply, content with the shocked expression on the misogynist's face. "But..." she continued, turning towards Harry, "we do need a cover story."

Hermione, drew Harry aside, throwing up a _Muffliato_ charm. "Harry, you are going into Auror training soon, this is not the time to piss off this jerk. We need to keep working with these men while being on guard. From what Percy told me last week, the Ministry will release Malfoy as long as there is a potential match decided. I think I should just commit to being his _fiance_. That way you get to honour the deal and they will release Malfoy. We can keep him safe with us while figuring out what's going on. He knew Missy, so maybe he know's who's behind all this."

"But Hermione, you cannot marry Malfoy. That's crazy."

"I won't let it come to that. We just have to say that we'll honour the deal so that they grant him bail. According to Percy, we can get a year's time before I actually need to marry him." Hermione scrunched her face up at the thought.

Harry contemplated Hermione's suggestion while watching Farringer struggle with the buzzing sound that filled his ears. Hermione touched Harry's shoulder gently.

"Look if it helps, I'm fairly certain that Malfoy is going to hate the idea of marrying me more than either of us. He could barely stand me touching him today. Think of how annoyed he will be." she grinned before continuing seriously, "It's a temporary deal. With his help, we can get around this. I'm certain. Once you are inside the Ministry, it may be easier for you to get the inside scoop as well."

"I don't really trust Malfoy either, but I guess he's the known evil. Alright Hermione, let's do this. I'm sorry you are in this position though. I feel that it's all my fault."

"Harry, he saved my life even though it was my fault for putting him at risk. I picked Margaret... I mean Missy and she tried to kill him. Even if you refuse, because of Dumbledore's will, I am tied to his fate. It looks like I'm meant to help the tosser get out of his deal after all." Hermione sighed as she continued, "It's not like I'm really going to marry him. This is just us, honouring this stupid deal." She repeated, "stupid deal" under her breath although it looked like she was trying to convince herself more than Harry.

Harry nodded gently. Putting an end to the charm, Harry turned back to face Farringer. "Alright Councillor, you're on and here's what we are going to do."

* * *

Hermione sat on an uncomfortable waiting stool outside Malfoy's room. A mediwitch from St Mungos' had emergency flooed in with the required antidote to the poison and evidently Malfoy had recovered incredibly fast. Well atleast fast enough that he could have a lucid conversation with Harry. Part of their agreement with Farringer, was that Harry would get to talk to Malfoy before the Ministry released him, the other part of the agreement was Hermione's statement to the press after the magical acceptance of the deal. Chewing her bottom lip in concentration, she reached into her beaded bag, to find a parchment where she could jot down a rough statement in preparation for her press meeting. She pulled out the first paper she could feel and was shocked to find an envelope from Mrs Malfoy. It was the letter that she had received from Narcissa more than a week ago. She had ignored it then but now, she felt an overwhelming need to read it. It almost felt serendipitous as she opened the letter with quivering hands.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I have attempted to write this letter more than a dozen times now and have realised that the request I ask of you can not be justified by any means. You do not owe me anything and my family has wronged you several times in the past. My actions to save Harry Potter were selfish in nature and Mr Potter and you have repaid me very well during my sentencing and by appearing for Dracos'. _

_But I am a mother and I will do absolutely anything for my boy and I implore you to please help Draco out. I will admit that I have know for a while now that Draco would be offered a deal out but we have been taken advantage of. We had no inkling that the deal would involve a Matriomonium clause. This is more proof that there are forces in the Ministry who not only want us destroyed economically but also destroy our social image. Please do not misunderstand my statement to imply that we are prejudiced. There just happens to be a social structure in this world and such a marriage or even a suggestion I'm positive, is meant as an insult._

_But I hardly care about any of that because I fear very deeply for the life of my son. One of the strongest evidences I have is that the deal barely hurt the Malfoy vaults. Even the control over the company according to the deal is bare minimum. But if something were to happen to Draco, Merlin forbid, which is possible given the lower security at the Towers, the Ministry could take over the whole of Malfoy Industries and I would be unable to stop them since I have given up my claim when I let Draco take over. I have no way to prove this of course, but my instinct makes me fear the worst. I will do absolutely anything to save Draco and you are the only one who can. _

_Please, _

_Narcissa_

Hermione read the letter over and over again. Narcissa had known that this was going to happen. The letter was obnoxious and rude and the bit about her saving Harry had clearly been thrown in there to make her feel guilty and it had worked. But most impressively, Narcissa had known! Known that an attempt would be made on her son's life. Hermione wondered if at the very moment, Harry and Malfoy were talking of similar things. She felt incredibly guilty. At least she and Harry had settled on a good plan a few minutes before. Once they get Malfoy out, they needed to have a proper chat with his mother.

Although, she was still apprehensive of the statement she would have to make to the press, she was now determined and focused. Hermione grabbed a large parchment and her best quill, once she started writing her speech, the words just seemed to flow out. Hermione smiled as she continued to craft her statement. If she was going to go ahead with this charade, she was going to make her performance award worthy.

* * *

Author's note: Sorry for the long delay. The current situation has had me relocate across the world and thrown all my plans into the trash can. Hopefully, this chapter will make up for the delay. Thanks for reading and please review. If anyone is interested in being a beta, please let me know.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

Harry paused at the door to Malfoy's room even as the nurse kept ushering him in. The nurse was a young woman, barely older than Harry, clad in her professional attire. She had apparently been summoned straight from St Mungo's and was an expert in dealing with Poisons. She had single handedly treated Malfoy and ensured that he was no longer in fatal danger. She had patiently recounted to Harry that this wound may take over a year to heal but as long as he took his potions, he would be fine.

So when Harry wanted to clarify if Malfoy was lucid enough to have a conversation, he felt awkward and out of his depth as he enquired. "Is he err.. loopy?" The young nurse stared at him in confusion. "Do you mean to ask if he is in his senses?" she asked, slight amusement flickering over her face as Harry nodded in confirmation. "He may still be a bit _loopy_ but it should wear off in the next few minutes" she responded formally although the slight upturn of the sides of her lips gave her real emotions away.

With a small smile and a tight grip around his wand, Harry opened the door and entered the room. There was a single unfamiliar Auror positioned in a corner of the room away from Malfoy, who lay on a oversized hospital bed. He appeared to be wearing a thin blue sack as his only clothing and Harry couldn't help wishing that it was at least long enough to cover his knees. The Auror straightened up and pointed towards a stool by Malfoy's bedside. Harry gingerly walked towards a still lying Malfoy wondering if perhaps Malfoy had fallen asleep. He was definitely wrong. Malfoy was awake, furious and definitely a little bit loopy.

"Potter. How nice of you to visit me again. Who have you brought this time to murder me?"

Harry noticed the Auror pull out a notebook and start taking notes. Wonderful, they weren't even trying to be subtle with their spying anymore, he thought to himself.

"Potter, I'm talking to you!" Malfoy raised his head, hissed in pain and stretched out his hand towards Harry instead. "Where's Granger? I would rather talk to her right now. She has more brain cells than you and Weasley combined." He turned towards the Auror and barked, "Greg, bring me that newspaper." The Auror rolled his eyes and got up. As he handed the newspaper to Malfoy, he added, "My name is not Greg, for Merlin's sake." Malfoy paid him no attention, instead propping himself up on some more pillows that he made "Greg" arrange. Then when he had deemed himself comfortable enough, he turned back to Harry "Were you ever going to tell me that I wouldn't actually die because of your complete incompetence?" He waved the Daily Prophet that described Hermione's inheritance from Dumledore's last will, angrily at Harry. "Were you ever going to tell me that Granger was my back-up option?" His face darkened as he turned towards Harry. "But given that you picked Missy, perhaps you were trying to murder me."

Harry huffed silently. He had promised Hermione that he wouldn't lose his temper with Malfoy and he meant to keep the promise. But when Malfoy in his drugged state, decided to show Harry the scar that his _Sectumsempra_ curse had left on his body, Harry put his hands up and blurted out. "Malfoy, you're kinda right. About us messing this up" he mumbled the last part softly. "Look, Hermione's drafting a speech for the press at the moment and we are taking you back with us now once we sign the deal. Cool?"

Malfoy stared at Harry for a long minute, his face blank, devoid of any emotions. "Why would she agree to this" he finally asked, his tone neutral. It was only because Harry knew Malfoy so well that he recognised Malfoy's question to stem from curiosity. Harry knew that this may be his onlychance, "You first, how do you know Missy and why was she trying to kill you?"

Malfoy closed his eyes and leaned his face towards the ceiling. "It's a pretty long story." He turned to "Greg" and shouted "Greg! Can I get something to eat around here? Apple pie, would be good too!" Greg rolled his eyes and got up mumbling, "I'm not your personal assistant, you know" as he headed out of the room. Harry quickly used the opportunity to look for any spells or magic objects that may be recording the conversation and cast a _Muffliato_ just in case, recognising Malfoy's need for secrecy.

"Travers had a bastard daughter...Missy with some Squib and he brought her over to my Manor after our sixth year...like a sacrifice lamb, to gain favour with the Dark Lord." Malfoy's face contorted, as he recalled the memory. He wanted to offer her to the Dark Lord, to be made the youngest ever Death Eater. She was a dumb kid, who only ever yearned for her new found father's approval and so was willing to do anything to prove herself. She had no idea what it meant...being a Death Eater." Harry didn't fail to observe the similarities between Missy and Malfoy here, but he stayed quiet, not wanting to disturb Malfoy's flow.

"So she was more than willing to become a Death Eater, but the rest of them..." Malfoy faltered here, drawing one hand over his face. "They just wanted to have fun at her expense and the Dark Lord, he let Yaxley give Missy, her initiation task. Yaxley he set her up for failure. He asked her to..." Malfoy almost retched at this point. "It doesn't matter, what but... this was meant to be a suicide attempt and if Missy succeeded, then... I guess she would be initiated. They chose a time when all the Death Eaters, including Travers was away. Only I was in the house and so I persuaded Missy that I would do the task for her, since it was so dangerous. She was different then, young and impressionable. She looked up to me, I suppose she fancied me and I used that to persuade her to wait in the gardens that evening until I bring back the evidence of the task."

Greg came back at this point holding an apple and a glass of water. "Your apple pie, your highness" he snapped as he kept them by Draco's bedside. Malfoy looked at the apple and shook his head. "I can't eat solid things now." He pointed at his injured chest and continued "How about some soup?" Greg's eyes darkened. "I know what you're doing here but we will also be questioning you later." With a dramatic turn, he left the room, making sure to shut the door extra hard.

Malfoy shut his eyes once again and said, "So why is the smartest witch to have ever lived, agreeing to this stupid deal? I answered one of your questions. Now, it's your turn." He waited patiently for Harry to answer, making it clear that he would not be continuing his answer unless Harry replied.

"Because she is a good person. She's not going to let you die. You can relax Malfoy. And for that matter, neither will I."

Malfoy scoffed. "Sure, but no one is good enough to sign away their lives to their bully."

"Well she is. I don't know what to tell you."

"If you aren't going to answer my questions seriously, I don't know why I should" Malfoy growled, opening his eyes and facing Harry with a scowl.

Harry scowled back and stared Malfoy down, but eventually he broke and responded "Someone's obviously trying to kill you and we need to get you out of here. She's agreed to this so that we can get you to safety first. But after..." Harry trailed off, not wanting to say too much in case of eavesdroppers.

Malfoy's scowl changed to a smirk. "Smartest witch that ever lived. I suppose if anyone can hep get me out of this..." His smirk grew as he let the rest of the sentence hang in the air.

"Your turn, Malfoy" Harry sighed. While he was glad in a way that Malfoy knew they were going to try and get out of this deal, he felt a little like he had lost any leverage he may have had over Malfoy. Harry reluctantly realised that he had preferred it when Malfoy was terrified that he was going to die because no one would marry him.

"Right, Missy... So basically, I persuaded her that I would do the.. task.." Malfoy made a disgusted face as he mentioned the word task. "I left her waiting in the garden and released the peacocks and swans to keep her company. So that when Yaxley returned, he saw Missy feeding and playing with the birds instead of doing the... task. I told the Dark Lord, that Missy was just a child with no concept of reality and that she didn't have it in her to kill Muggles to become a Death Eater."

"And Voldermort just believed you?" Harry asked, in disbelief at the nature of the initiation task.

"Well, you see, I actually attempted to fulfil my task of killing Dumbledore, so yes, he believed me. Travers was demoted to Snatcher monitoring duty and Missy was asked to leave and go back to her Squib mother."

Harry bit down his anger at the mention of Dumbledore. After all that was the only reason he was here. Dumbledore truly believed that Malfoy was not truly evil and Harry had personally witnessed Malfoy's failure in completing his 'task'.

"So, if she was this naive and innocent girl, why did she turn all dark and try and kill you?" Harry, kept his voice low and business-like.

Malfoy didn't respond. At first Harry thought he was being a jerk as always but then Malfoy let out a soft undistinguished snore which betrayed the fact that Draco Malfoy had fallen asleep mid-conversation. Harry retrospectively wished that he had asked the pretty nurse how long Malfoy would be awake instead of questioning his 'loopiness'.

* * *

Hermione was editing her second draft of the press release speech when she heard a commotion at the end of the corridor. She quickly snatched her things and stealthily crept towards the source of the noise. She could hear raised voices and a loud shuffle that betrayed some movement. Wand raised she followed the sounds that seemed to emanate from one of the rooms on the right at the end of the corridor.

"..when you knew I would be occupied...Farringer, there will be...official enquiry immediately...on the authority...almost killed by an assassin..."

Kingsley must have returned from Paris and he was raising hell at Farringer. That much was obvious. Still she treaded lightly, not paying any attention to the aurors standing around. But before she had taken a few steps, the door flew open and an irate Kingsley stormed out. With purposeful strides, he barked orders at the Aurors stationed outside as he made his way towards Hermione.

When he caught sight of Hermione, however, his countenance softened and he let out a soft sigh as he stopped by her side. "Are you alright Ms Granger? I am so sorry about everything. I had no idea that such conspiracies were afoot and that too right under my nose. I'm incredibly relived that Mr Potter and you remained unhurt."

Hermione managed a tight smile. "Come, let's sort this mess out", he continued and strode purposely towards Malfoy's room. Kingsley walked past the door that Harry had entered through, instead choosing to tap out an elaborate pattern on the opposite wall with his wand. Hermione had lived in the wizarding world for 7 years but the sight of the wall disappearing and the emergence of a pulley-style elevator still took her by surprise.

"After you", Kingsley moved away and helped Hermione get aboard the metal contraption, which creaked and swayed haphazardly beneath her feet. She grabbed onto the nearest handle that was floating in front of her which proved to be a wise decisions because the minute Kingsley got on, the make shift elevator plunged several feet into the distance with absolutely no warnings, before swaying left and speeding across the abyss. It finally came to a screeching stop in front of a gigantic lynx headed door. Kingsley cheerfully pointed Hermione towards a bucket, "in case of nausea" he added, before dismounting.

The door opened to Kingsley's voice and led them straight into his office. "Is Harry with Mr Malfoy?" clarified Kingsley, offering her a seat on one of the plush leather couches.

Hermione nodded, "Minister, was Farringer..."

"Please Hermione, Let us wait for Mr Potter and. Mr Malfoy to join us. I should never have trusted the Councillor."

They didn't have to wait long as suddenly with a loud rumble the wall opposite Hermione crumbled and the room expanded to open into a provisional hospital room. Malfoy appeared to be asleep on the hospital bed, drooling over his pillow in a very un-Malfoy-is undignified way while Harry stood by his side, wand outstretched, confusion etched all over his face.

"Hermione! How did this just open..what? Kingsley? Why are we in your office?"

"Perks of being a Minister I suppose, my office can be connected to any room. This way, we will have more privacy though."

Kingsley paused for a second and took a look at Malfoy. He ushered Harry towards a green cushioned chaise lounge and sat himself next to him.

"First, I would like to apologise to both of you. Today could have been a disaster if not for Mr Malfoy's quick thinking and both your exert wand-work. You should have never been in this position and I should have never trusted the Councillor. Of course I would apologise to Mr Malfoy too but I think it may be better to let him rest now. I was purposefully detained in Paris and the events of today were deliberately kept secret from me. So I would like to assure you that there will be a major enquiry into everything that happened here." Kingsley looked truly remorseful but they could see the anger simmering beneath his eyes.

Kingsley turned to look at Hermione, and continued "Hermione, I will handle the press. For now, shall us discuss the terms of the contract. Farringer informed me that you will take on the responsibility of Mr Malfoy. Is that correct?"

Hermione wrung her hands nervously, briefly glanced at Harry and then nodded.

"We are completely safe here. No one can overhear us. Speak your mind." Kingsley gently encouraged.

Hermione threw Harry another glance and when he bobbed his head in affirmation, she said "Well I suppose he may be safer anywhere else than the Ministry right now and I will sign the deal but... I intend to find a way out."

She paused to look at Kingsley's reaction. He was listening seriously and he nodded before adding "And I will aid you in whatever way possibly, informally of course."

"I read the reports and the court documents. Malfoy has a year's time before he needs to be married which gives ample time to find a loophole or identify any evidence of fraudulent judgement" Hermione spoke hurriedly.

"True", Kingsley confirmed, "although, I would advise you to focus on identifying a loophole. This is a centuries old deal which has always been highly subjective to interpretation. On the other hand, attacking the decays and termites in the Ministry is an arduous but not impossible job, however it may take well over a year which is the time you have."

He summoned 4 copies of identical blue files that he passed over to each of them. He placed Malfoy's near his bedside after noticing that he was still fast asleep. He then summoned a small vial with a memory strand floating inside.

"Mediwitch Flora informed me that while Malfoy has survived, his wound could take well over a year to heal. That is truly unfortunate. But, she managed to retrieve his memories of the assassin Missy Travers formerly known to us as Margaret Jones. So at least we can find out more about her"

Harry choked, "You're kidding me, he was being so annoying about sharing his memories."

Kingsley smiled, "I suppose it might be because of the history you share. On the contrary, mediwitch Flora told me that he was more than happy to give her the memories. But I will see them later" he added, placing it on the table. "Let's focus on your contract. Why don't you both go through it and identify areas that you may want to chnage" he added, pointing to the blue files.

Hermione was seized with a curiosity to know more about Missy but she gave her assent and opened the file. Harry got up and moved closer to Hermione. "Two minds are better than one?" he offered weakly.

It was several minutes later that Hermione shut the file with a loud snap and turned to Kingsley. "I'm fine with it except for sections 3 and 5. I want all of section 3 gone. The Ministry cannot dictate Malfoy's...well how many children he should have or his fidelity etc."

Neither Harry nor Kingsley failed to notice her purposeful avoidance of using the term 'sex' nor her insistence on calling the offspring as Malfoy's and not her own.

"And in section 5?" Kingsley enquired. Hermione got the impression that after the events of today,

"I want a clause added that if Harry were to find someone else to satisfy the deal with Malfoy, instead of me, the contract should modify the responsibility to that person and absolve me of this liability."

Kingsley looked a little uncomfortable. "That may be a bit harder to push through especially since there will be a public announcement regarding Mr Malfoy and you."

Hermione shook her head. "This is something I insist on, Kingsley."

"Do I get a say at all? Given that I just freaking saved your life?". Harry, Hermione and Kingsley swiftly turned their heads to stare at a sleepy looking Malfoy. He had raised his head, putting weight on his forearms and stared straight at Hermione.

Harry looked like he had completely forgotten about Malfoy while Kingsley emotionlessly watched him. Hermione was the first to recover. "This clause helps you too Malfoy. If you meet someone you like that satisfies..."

"Merlin's pants. Don't try to sell me that crap. I agree about section 3 but no clause in section 5" Malfoy leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes.

Hermione got up and stormed over to him. She glared at him, pointed to the blue file by the table and said, "you haven't even read the file. Why do you insist on being difficult?"

Malfoy snorted, "because you've done my homework for me. Now, can I please go home?" he turned his head towards Kingsley.

"You little dung beetle, why would you want to be tied to me? What if we find someone who you could actually love or at least not hate?"

"Someone like Missy, who kills me so that I am no longer your problem?"

"Actually, once you sign the contract, your life gets tied to the other persons. If one dies before you are married, so does the other."

With a sarcastic smirk, Malfoy remarked "how poetic, also.." he looked up at Hermione's still hopeful face, "no dice, no clause."

Hermione stifled a scream as she tightened her fist around her wand. "But why? You hate me!"

Malfoy rolled to his side slowly, and looked Hermione in the eye "I am not going to be marrying for love Granger. This is a fucking deal to get me out of Azkaban. Why would I care?"

Hermione took in a deep breath but before she could say anything Harry burst out "Malfoy, there are some women out there who don't care that you face is pointy or that you're an evil cockroach with a stupid tattoo. If we cannot find a loophole.." Kingsley stared at the blue file pretending he wasn't listening in on the conversation.

Malfoy sat up now with great difficulty, and rearranged his gown, unaware that he had just accidentally flashed Harry. "That's exactly why I only want Granger. Why would I want to be married to some stupid pigeon brained Mud.." he paused suddenly his eyes subconsciously flashing to Hermione's scarred arm. With a giant gulp he continued "... I don't want to be bound to anyone and Granger's the only one who hates me enough to want a way out and smart enough to find a way out and so, I insist on NO CLAUSE" he exclaimed before sinking back into his pillows with a soft groan.

Hermione stared silently at Malfoy for a few seconds. Then she spun around and asked Kingsley, "alright where do I sign?"

* * *

Author's note: Thank you so much for reading. Please leave reviews. It's been a difficult few months with the lockdown and the pandemic chaos, so sorry for the crazy delay. I hope i can post a bit more regularly now. Next up will be some action scenes at the Manor as the plot progresses and plenty of slowburn Dramione. Please review and sorry for any grammatical errors. I didn't really proof read today.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: This is a bit of a buffer chapter. The first half is essentially a dramatic dream/nightmare sequence and the remaining half can be apltly renamed "Andromeda" but please do let me know what you think.

Thank you so much to all the reviewers I really appreciate your reviews and suggestions. The next chapter is more meaty with lots of Dramione but until then, please enjoy the drama.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

It was a beautifully sunny afternoon and the theme park was extremely busy. There were children running amid hot dog and ice cream stands that were completely inundated with orders. The fun rides had long queues and there were plenty of costumed mascots walking the park taking pictures with the various visitors. Hermione was in complete bliss. Flanked on either side by her parents, she skipped along the side path, leading them towards the roller coasters. She twirled around in her yellow daffodils dress, enjoying the way the skirt rose up. Her parents had gotten her this dress for her tenth birthday and this visit to the theme park was her birthday treat.

She looked around, careful not to miss any new ride or show. "Look Mum! It's Belle!" she exclaimed, pointing at a theme park worker dressed as her favourite Disney princess. "Can I get a picture please?" she pleaded, her buckteeth standing out as she flashed them a wide smile. "Of course darling", her mother replied softly, releasing her grip on Hermione's hand. Hermione ran towards Belle loudly exclaiming, "Please, may I have a photo with you". The Disney princess turned around, looked down at her and whispered, "_of course Mudblood_."

Hermione gasped as she stared into Bellatrix's eyes. She spun around and tried to run only to find that she was paralysed. She watched helplessly as Bellatrix in a yellow Belle dress, bent down and posed for a picture with her. Panicking, Hermione tried to call out to her parents, to warn them only to find that they had disappeared. In their place stood, Harry, Ron and Ginny, who appeared to be deep in conversation. _Were they planning a wedding?_ She watched, rooted to the floor, Bellatrix grinning maniacally next to her, as Ginny described the floral arrangement to the boys. Hermione looked around in vain. If only, she could locate her wand.

"_Looking for this?_" a voice called out from her left. She found herself staring at Kingsley who was twirling her wand in his hand. "After you" he gestured, alluding to an open tent flap. She found herself walking towards it, pleasantly surprised that she could move now. She didn't dare to look back at 'Belle' as she hurried into the tent which was completely WHITE. The interior of the tent was covered in white paint. It was a shoddy, patchwork kind of a paint job that made the interiors look extraordinarily depressing. At the other end of the tent, stood..._Was that Councillor Farringer?_. He leered at her and waved her wand at her. "Where's Kinglsey.." she began formulating just as Farringer disintegrated into black smoke which rushed towards her.

In a blind panic, she turned back, straining to find a way out but the entrance was nowhere in sight. The black smoke wove itself into tendrils that gripped her arms and legs. She writhed against the tendrils in desperation, her anxiety worsening. She could hear laughter, Missy's voice whispering horrendous things, teasing her and wishing her and Malfoy dead. The room began spinning as she willed herself to find a way out. Reminiscent of her childhood bursts of magic, she felt a deep rush through her body, pulsating against her skin as blue flames burst through burning into the black coils against her body. Free of the dark magic, Hermione sprinted across the room in search of an escape route. She could sense someone chasing her although she couldn't be sure of their identity. She ran faster, loath to look around, when she spotted yellow light flashing from a quiet corner. She broke into a sprint, her sport shoes and track pants aiding her fast movement. _When did she change her clothes?_ Momentarily surprised at the change in her attire, Hermione stumbled and fell. Just before she touched the ground, however she found herself floating.

She was in the air, riding a dragon. _How did she escape the tent?_ They flew over Hogwarts, passed by Diagon Alley and they even flew past her primary school. Hermione could feel the adrenaline running through her veins. She needed to get out of whatever nightmare she was trapped in. She looked ahead and found herself staring at the looming silhouette of Malfoy Manor. The dragon dropped height and flew closer to the ground as if aware of Hermione's need to reach solid ground. Hermione shifted herself across the dragon's long body and dropped to the ground crashing into a well-maintained garden.

"_Welcome Mrs Malfoy. How may I serve you today?"_ Hermione looked up, shocked and alarmed to see Dobby in a pink tuxedo with blue sock prints all over it. This must be the Malfoy Manor gardens. To her greater horror, she realised that Dobby was addressing her as 'Mrs Malfoy'. But before she could address the issue, a sudden large gaping red stain appeared on Dobby's side. "Dobby!" she wanted to scream but found herself voiceless. All she could do was stare in dismay as he fell to the ground in slow motion softly whispering "I am a free elf". She knelt to the ground, tears running down her face as she cradled his body in her arms. She blinked away her tears and shook her head a little. She tightened her grip against Dobby who's body only seemed to be becoming heavier and heavier. She craned her neck in the direction of the house, trying to see if she could spot anyone who can help treat the wound.

"Granger" a soft voice whimpered. She looked down only to see that Dobby had transformed into the familiar form of Draco Malfoy who was now draped across her lap in a vision similar to that at the Ministry, the only difference being that the blood from his chest wound had seeped all over her clothes. She opened her mouth in shock as Malfoy pleaded with her to help him. Even as she started into his shimmering silver eyes, she could feel the scenery around her changing once more. She was still looking into Draco's fearful eyes, but now he was standing over her body as she lay in the drawing room of the Manor, clutching her scarred arm. She heard a soul wrenching scream cut across the room and it was only when she saw Draco's pained expression that she realised that it was coming from her.

Hermione woke up drenched in sweat, her heart pumping, and the remains of actual tears that had stained her face. The visuals had felt so real. She was used to nightmares that didn't let her sleep but this particular one had been particularly excruciating. She needed a distraction, perhaps some hot cocoa.

She pushed the duvet away from her body and sat up. She found herself looking at the letters at her bedside. One from the Australian Occlumency MediLab (AOM) which detailed her parent's recovery. The gist being that they were still in magically induced comas but the mediwitches were working hard on returning their memories to them. Sometimes Hermione wondered if she did the right thing, obliviating them but she was more concerned about the ethics of returning their memories to them. They had been happy in Australia and now they were horizontally confined to hospital beds. Another tear rolled down her cheek. She shifted through the papers on her bedside, setting aside her Hogwarts eighth year letter and the thank you letter from Mrs Malfoy, choosing instead to stare at the photo of her standing at Disneyland, posing exuberantly next to Belle, her parents on either side of them. She had chosen this photo among many others, to send to the AOM to aid them in their treatment but after that nightmare, she needed to see the woman playing Belle. Even though she knew it was impossible, Hermione found herself searching for similarities between the woman and Bellatrix, satisfied only when she realised that the actress playing Belle looked about 16.

Hermione shoved the photo back into its envelope and made her way to the kitchen. Ron had predictably had a complete meltdown when they had returned from the Ministry and had packed his bags and dramatically made his way back to the Burrow. This had been over a week ago and Ginny told her that he was now spending all his time with George, even talking about turning down the Auror position in favour of helping George at the Weasley Wizarding Weezes. Hermione refused to take responsibility over this but she still felt a bit guilty. Moreover this also meant that Ginny had secretly replaced Ron as Harry's new roommate. Hermione was definitely happy for them but it didn't change the fact that she was now aware of how lonely and sad she was. To make matters worse, Harry was clearly feeling incredibly guilty about her situation, so Hermione had to pretend that everything was fine. She had taken to avoiding Harry by spending all her time babysitting Teddy or pouring over various books and documents regarding Poena Magnum.

She walked into the kitchen to a picture of serenity. Andromeda sat by the fireplace, singing to a sleepy Teddy in her arms. Hermione gingerly walked to the kitchen counter and sat on a stool with an acknowledging nod at Andromeda. The lyrics sounded latin and Hermione didn't understand the meaning behind the song but it sounded beautiful and serene but there was a vague sense of sadness underlying the tones of the music. She applauded silently when Andromeda finished the song.

"I just came to make myself some hot chocolate. Would you like some?"

"That would be nice dear. Teddy still hasn't learnt to sleep at night." Andromeda replied smiling softly as she threw a fond look at Teddy, whom she gently placed in a baby basinet by the fireplace.

"What was the song about?" Hermione enquired as she spelled the water in the kettle, "It was beautiful but sad.."".

"It's a song about forbidden love. The song follows the journey of two lovers who fight valiantly against their families to stay together but it has an unhappy end. Ironically, I learnt it from my mother. She used to sing it to Cissy when she was a Teddy's age."

Hermione added the chocolate powder and began stirring. "What happens to the lovers in the end?"

Andromeda stared into the fire stoically. She turned to look at Hermione and shrugged, "They died, in each other's arms. My mother never sang the final verse. I only found out years later, when I was singing to Tonks." Andromeda smirked as she continued, "Ted used to find the irony hilarious."

Hermione smiled gently as she handed Andromeda her cup. She sat on the rug by the bassinet and sipped the drink slowly. They both sat there, content to remain silent, lost in their own thoughts. It was one of the many things Hermione liked about Andromeda. She was never nosy or asked uncomfortable things. Instead she was smart, helpful and comforting.

Finally Andromeda broke the silence, "I plan to go back to my house once you leave for Hogwarts. I got a notice from the Aurors that they are done ransacking my house in the name of rebuilding."

"Oh, Harry is going to be so disappointed. He was looking forward to staying with you next year." Hermione whispered.

"I know" Andromeda sighed. "I expect him to be, but he is going to be so busy with his Auror traineeship that he will forget all about us. Plus, I don't think I can handle this house when you are all gone and all of Tonk's old things are still in at home...along will all the memories". Andromeda wistfully stared into space and Hermione was left with a feeling of pity and compassion.

"I'll come by in the holidays and help out. We all will" promised Hermione, when she realised that Andromeda had quite made up her mind.

Andromeda slowly leaned forward and looked Hermione in the eye, "My dear, I am not blind to the fact that you have your own problems right now." She continued to stare Hermione down, "This boy, is he really worth it?"

Hermione swallowed. "You mean Draco?" she clarified quietly.

Andromeda didn't respond but there was a slight nod.

"He isn't the nicest person but he doesn't deserve to die." Hermione blinked and took a sip of her hot chocolate. Staring into the depth of her cup, she whispered, "Strange as it may be, he saved my life now and in his own way, I don't think he ever wanted to harm Harry or me."

Andromeda nodded, obviously satisfied with her answer. "I know my sister. She was the quietest among us but also the most cunning. If you intend to meet her to discuss your impending engagement, I will be happy to accompany you."

Hermione looked startled. Sure the Daily Prophet had reported news about their engagement but she was surprised at how Andromeda could have know that Narsissa had cleverly sneaked a request to discuss the details of the engagement in person when she sent the thank you letter.

"Mrs Ma..Narcissa wrote that she's free during tea time any day I want and that she think we should have a large public engagement before we return to Hogwarts" Hermione confessed with a sigh.

Andromeda snorted. "Only free during tea time? Why, what other work can she possibly have. If you want my opinion, we should meet her for lunch tomorrow. That is, if you would like me to accompany you. Also never let her dictate the terms." Andromeda shook her head, in amusement.

"I agree" replied Hermione, surprising even herself. She had kept the contents of the letter from everyone, willing even herself to forget but now that she had Andromeda's support, Hermione felt an urgent need to complete the unappealing task of interacting with her potential future mother-in-law.

"And the public engagement? I saw that in Kingsley's statement too but how do you feel about it?"

"It was a condition placed by the Ministry. I think they want everyone to see their efficiency in passing judgement and they are using us for the task. It is something that I had to unfortunately commit too but I think it may be a good idea to get it done with openly. Anyway, it's going to be a farce, the real power was in the document we signed and literally bled over" she shrugged, thinking back to the blood bond they had created at the Ministry. "Actually I was hoping that the engagement could be on the Saturday, one day before we return to Hogwarts."

Andromeda nodded. "That's a sound idea. I would recommend that you get some sleep. We have a lot of strategising to do tomorrow. And am I to assume that Harry and Ginny will be accompanying us?"

Hermione frowned slightly, "I haven't discussed this with them" she confessed. "I don't want Harry to feel any more guilt over this and Ginny...I love them a lot but I don't think I can do this with them around. I am not so sure I even want them to know."

Andromeda peered over Teddy as she rearranged his blanket, "_If we hide from the ones we love, will we ever truly live? _Do you think it's wise to hide this from them given everything that has passed."

"Umm..."

"Perhaps this may change your mind but I love Cissy. She was there for me when I ran away with Teddy. A lot of things have changed since then but I have babysat for Draco like you are with Teddy now. I love my sister but I hate her too and while I promise to ensure that I will fight for what you want out of this engagement, I may be using this as an opportunity to touch base with my long lost sister."

Hermione blinked. This was the one thing about Andromeda that made Hermione wary, Andromeda wasn't just smart, she was a sly, manipulative Slytherin through and through but Hermione had gotten to know her well enough in the last few months to know that she would never cause her harm. Andromeda only used her slyness to persuade Harry into getting a haircut, Ron into going on a diet and apparently now she was manipulating Hermione to ensure she doesn't lie to her friends.

"I will tell Harry and Ginny about the visit but I would still prefer if it was just us tomorrow" she finally muttered.

Andromeda smiled, "Then all that is left to do is to write to my dear sister."

"Like right now?"

"Well, its half past one and she will be sleeping so, yes, definitely" smirked Andromeda.

Hermione's lips widened into a grin. Andromeda may be a Slytherin but when the said Slytherin is on your side, Hermione figured, they weren't so bad after all. This time when she went to bed, she slept soundly.

* * *

Author's note: Please review and let me know what you think. Next up we finally have some Dramione interactions. I am also still looking for a beta to check my work so please let me know if you are interested. Thanks for reading.


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